Life on Earthni A to Z
by giraffes92
Summary: A collection of nonlinear short stories about Star and Marco after the events of Cleaved, just having adventures and living life.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fellow Star vs the Forces of Evil lovers! I'm still super sad that the show is over but am so grateful that it was such a beautiful and intriguing show. This story is about different snippets from Star and Marco's life after Cleaved. There will be 26 chapters (just like there are 26 letters of the alphabet) and each will have a chapter that correlates with a letter of the alphabet. There is no story, just a bunch on nonlinear shorts depicting their lives. Some will be right after Cleaved, some will be years later. It will just depend. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the stories! I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of its characters or stories-that belongs to the wonderful Daron Nefcy. Please feel free to review and critic! Enjoy! **

**Chapter 1: Always Got Me **

"You've got to be kidding me…" Marco groaned as he looked at his outfit. "Tom, this is my only Prussian blue! The whole thing is ruined!" Slumping into a chair, he sighed in defeat and took a piece of the mushroom pizza out of its box that was left over from the night before. Taking a bite, Marco sighed and looked at Tom. "This is all that matters now."

Tom stood in front of the mirror and began straightening his tie. "Perfect…Tom, you handsome devil you." He winked at himself before he turned back to Marco with a raised eyebrow. "Ahh, come on, dude! You've got more than a piece of gross mushroom pizza! You're just stressed about today…And hey, look at the time. We need to get going! We only have 20 minutes before it starts."

"20 MINUTES?!" Marco sprang up from his chair, flinging his pizza onto the floor, forgotten. "OHHH NO! I CAN'T DO THIS! OH WOW! OKAY! WOW! OH NO!" He began pacing the floor, then stopped suddenly. Tom stepped in front of him, waving a hand in front of his face. Marco stared into space, his eyes vacant.

"Uhhh, dude? Did you have a stroke?" Tom poked Marco in the face, then frowned when he got no response. "Do I need to call someone, or-"

"HIIIIIIIIIIYA!"

BAM! Tom jumped back in surprise, seeing Marco in a fighting stance. "Oh great, it's the Sword Hand Dance again." He mumbled under his breath.

Marco began kicking and jumping in the air, yelling with each empty hit. "It's-HIYA-not a-WOOOOYA-dance! It's-WAH-Karate!" He continued practice his moves, sweat beginning to travel to his armpits.

After watching Marco fight thin air for 10 minutes, Tom rolled his three eyes and took a deep breath. "Dude, everything is going to be okay. Just because you don't have the perfect-"

"That's just it!" Marco stopped as suddenly as he started, facing the wall. He caught Tom's eye in the mirror but quickly looked away. "It HAS to be perfect! It's all a little boy has ever dreamed about since he was small! I just-this is so huge! I just want everything to be perfect."

Tom contemplated what he was saying. Obviously Marco was having a Marco moment. There was only way to solve this. "GLASSES! CLOTHES! BOOK! Tom Lucitor, PhD."

Marco pursed his lip. "I really wish Star hadn't told you about that…" Tom ignored him and pushed Marco into a chair, handing him a plum tie.

"Marco, you are just nervous because this is a big life change. Yeah, things are scary and aren't going to be the same as always. But this is going to be the best day of your life and the start of something amazing." Tom grabbed a brush and combed Marco's hair. "Besides, you're my best friend. You always have me. That will never change." He backed up, and spun Marco's chair around to observe himself. "So, did I do better than Star at the PhD thing?"

Slowly, Marco stood up and looked at the mirror. He shifted from side to side, taking in every angle. He finally turned back to look at Tom, letting out a deep breath. "Thanks, Tom. You're right. I was having a Marco moment. I'm okay now. Thanks for being a good friend."

The demon prince smiled and took him by the shoulder. "Glad that's over, becaaaaause it's time." Marco blanched and his heart quickened.

"Ahh. Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Cool." Marco closed his eyes and breathed in deep, releasing it slowly through his nose. "Okay. Let's go."

The two friends left the room, (not before Tom forced Marco to put on more deodorant on his sweaty pits,) and walked down the hall. Opening the door, the duo were greeted by the sound of chattering people and a piano playing quietly in the background. The crowd paused for a second, glancing at the pair as they stood at the front of the aisle. Suddenly, the music began to play loudly, but all Marco could hear was the pounding in his ears. He didn't compute the women (and floating horse head) coming up and standing at the altar. Tom noticed his friend balling his fists, then whispered, "Chill, dude. I'm right behind you." The piano swelled as Mariposa, a wily 8-year old, danced down the aisle, tossing petals on the ground. As she smiled sweetly at the maid-of-honor and other bridesmaids, the crowd stood up.

The moment the doors opened, all of Marco's fears vanished. Star caught Marco's eye and smiled so widely her face could have split in half. In true Mewni tradition, she walked herself down the aisle-well, more sprinted down it-true to Star style. She grasped Marco's hands and smiled up at him. She heard a sniffle and glanced behind him at Tom. She winked at him and smiled before looking back at Marco.

As the priest began talking, she whispered to Marco, "So, you went with the plum I see."

"Yeah, the Prussian blue one was on the fritz."

"Tom pick it out?"

"Yeah…I had a Marco moment."

Star smiled and pushed her veil out of her face, ignoring the priest going on about combining Mewni and Earth traditions, yada yada yada. "Well, next time you have a Marco moment, you always have me…and I guess Tom."

Marco smirked and pulled Star closer making her giggle. "I do?"

The priest coughed, bringing the two back into the moment. "I haven't gotten to that part yet…"

"I do too! You may totally kiss the bride!" Star finished for the priest and grabbed Marco into a deep kiss, causing everyone to cheer. The two separated and smiled at the crowd, seeing their parents wiping away tears, before glanced at Tom. He gave them a thumbs up. Marco smiled at him, then grabbed Star's hand and rushed down the aisle to Space Unicorns-why did he let Star pick the music again?

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please feel free to write reviews or critic! Most chapters will be about Star and Marco, but some will be about other characters. Also, weddings are always depicted from the bride's point of view, I thought it would be fun to do it from Marco's and have Tom chill him out. (I am weirdly obsessed with their friendship.) Anyway, until next time! Thank you for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello hello dear readers! Thank you all so much for following and reading my story and reviewing! I really appreciate it! I am going to try to post at least once a week, if not twice! Thank you again and I hope you enjoy this next chapter! (Each chapter will take place in a random time in the life of Star and Marco. The last chapter was their wedding, some may take place immediately after the finale, some may take place very far in the future.) I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of its characters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Chapter 2: Before **

One month. One month of Earth and Mewni being cleaved. One measly, tiny, miniscule, short month and Star could hardly recall what life was like before. Sure, there was magic, dimension hopping, enormous responsibility, monarchy, and demon ex-boyfriends before. But now…everything was just so different!

Star sank onto the bench, watching the (now non-laser) puppies scampering around the dog park. The dog park, which thanks to the 'Merge' as people called it, had the Flags hill and fields of corn stationed in the middle of it. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed how _**normal **_it all felt.

Well, to her anyway.

Humans and Mewmans quickly learned to cohabitate the new dimension, but Monsters still were ostracized, feared, and rejected. Star watched as a Monster couple walked hand and claw down the path, while a small group of middle schoolers picked up their soccer ball and dashed the opposite direction. Sighing, she felt defeated. After all the headway made on Mewni with Monster Equality, they had to restart all over again here on the newly named Earthni. Strumming her fingers, Star hummed to herself. Was she ever that silly girl who came to Earth just over two years ago, fighting monsters and whooping Ludo's butt?

"Hey Star!" Marco's voice whipped Star out of her moping as she grinned at her boyfriend. Marco jogged up to her, panting slightly as he rested his hand on the back of the bench. "Sorry I'm late! The bus was delayed due to two warnicorns drag racing in the street!"

"Hi Marco!" Star's heart skipped a beat as he placed a kiss on his check. His face grew slightly red but his grin said it all. He was getting better at not feeling awkward showing affection. Star sprang up from her spot and slid her hand into his. "We are totally NAILING this relationship thing!" She sang the last two words in a sing-song voice, throwing her other hand into the air.

Marco chuckled as they began to corral the puppies for a walk. "I know! It's like we have always been dating!" Tucking the last puppy under his arm, he attempted to organize the puppies. "Okay, let's see. Barko Diaz, check. Marco Jr., check. Sajak, Puppyhead, Ticklepants, Mr. McHuggable, check, check, check, and check. Cujo, check. And…wait, here is Kitty?" Frantically, Marco looked around himself, his eyes growing wide. "Oh no, where is Kitty? Here, Kitty! Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!"

"Uhh, Marco?" Star smiled and gestured to the dog wagging its tail under his arm.

"Hahaha…right…" Marco awkwardly laughed at himself and put Kitty on the group. "Ready, milady?"

"Marco, we talked about that."

The pair began to walk down the path, chattering about everything under the sun. The puppies leapt over one another and tangled their leashes into giant knots that would have made Marco's miniature miniature book of knots proud. It felt so normal, so right. But still…

Star felt something was off. She was so happy, everything was perfect, except-

"EWW! GET OUT OF HERE!" Star and Marco stopped, swiveling their heads into the direction of the commotion. "This is ridiculous! I can't believe I have to work like this! Why can't you go back to where you belong?" A teenage girl neither Marco nor Star recognized stomped away from the ice cream stand, where a dejected Lobster Claws was trying to get a scoop of mint chocolate chip. He lowered his tail and began to walk away.

"Wait, Lobster Claws!" Star thrust her leashes into Marco's hands (who rolled his eyes and muttered 'Every time.') and dashed toward the giant monster. She skidded in front of him, forcing him to stop. As he stopped, he bumped into her, causing the blonde teen to fall onto the ground with a HUMPH! Rubbing her butt, she stood back up and looked at him. "Lobster Claws! What was that all about?"

The giant lobster snapped his claws in agitation but he shook his head. "Hey Star. Look, it's nothing new. I'm used to it by now." He shuffled around her, but she stepped in front of him again.

"Look, that girl just doesn't know you! If you want, I can get you some-" Star began but Lobster Claws shuffled to the left and began to walk around her.

"Thanks, Star. But I can buy my own ice cream." He gave a half-hearted wave as he left. "See ya later, Star."

Star felt her heart sink as Marco slowly walked up to her. "Hey, you okay?" He put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her intently. Star sighed and turned to him.

"Am I kidding myself, Marco? Monsters and Mewmans were finally starting to get along before the Merge. Well, besides Mina, anyway. But it is just like before. Earthni is just Mewni with humans, indoor plumbing, and less corn." Star sank onto the grass, her crossed arms thrust over her chest, an uncharacteristic frown distorting her face. Marco sat down next to her and placed all the leashes around his right wrist so he could grab her hand with his left one.

"Star…" Marco paused, a frown on his face. Star could tell he was trying to think of the right thing to say. "Star," Marco started again, "This isn't going to go away. People fear what they don't understand and what is different. You saw it on Mewni with Mina and the Monster Bash and Cornball. Earth is the same way." Star groaned and hid her face in her crossed arms that rested on her knees. Marco blenched then backtracked. "What I mean is, it's only been a month. Give people time. It took a long time for people to accept Eclipsa and Meteora!" He cocked his head to look at Star, who peeked one eye at him. "Change takes time. Since, well…" He gestured to the dragoncycles in the sky and the ruins of Butterfly castle in the distance, intermingled with the suburbs and shops of Earth. "They didn't have a choice."

Star giggled as she raised her head to look Marco in the eye. "You're right. I just-I keep forgetting what it was like before and keep expecting things to be perfect since they are perfect for me!" She laughed at Marco's deep blush and sputtering attempts to complement her back.

After a couple of attempts to respond, Marco coughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, yeah, things are perfect but not as perfect as you." Star's heart fluttered as she squeezed Marco's hand tighter.

"I need a cracker, because that was just too cheesy." A voice caused both of them to jump. Behind them stood Janna, her arms full of tennis balls.

"JANNA!" Star called as she hopped up to hug her friend.

"Janna…" Marco muttered, begrudgingly standing up to meet her. "Getting more tennis balls for Needles?"

Janna shifted her weight and stared at her friends, a smirk on her face. "No. Why did you assume I just look around for tennis balls for Needle's dog?" Marco rolled his eyes, causing Janna to shrug. "I just thought you might need some help getting your dogs back."

"What do you mean-" Star and Marco looked down to see all the leashes attached to empty collars. Sparring a panicked look at each other, Marco and Star swiveled around to see the puppies dashing around the park, chewing on swing sets, dashing after unsuspecting skateboarders, and generally causing chaos. "NO SAJAK, NO!" The two teens dashed after the puppy who was raising his leg over the shoes of a beautiful business man.

"Don't say I didn't ever do anything for you." Janna muttered with a smile on her face as she calmly walked after the couple who frantically chased after the puppies like never before.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please feel free to review or critic this story. Thanks again for reading and see you guys soon! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Thanks everyone for your reviews and following my story! I really appreciate it! I hope you have been enjoying the chapters so far! Anyway, I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of the characters. Thank you again for reading and please feel free to review! **

**Chapter 3: Consequences **

After a joyous reunion with many hugs and possibly a kiss or two, Star and Marco took stock of their newly cleaved world. The couple took each other by the hand and began to walk toward-well, they weren't exactly sure but they were walking…somewhere. This new world was full of insanity-flying dragoncycles chased after flocks of geese. A high school janitor was seen wearing a loincloth, throwing books into a fire. Monsters dashed in a panic as humans and mewmans either ran away from them or after them. Suddenly, Tom and Ponyhead rushed toward the pair. "What did you guys do?!" Tom called incredulously, racing toward them with Ponyhead trailing behind.

"TOM!" Star dashed toward him, pulling Marco with her. As she reached to pull Tom into a hug, the demon prince pushed her aside and grasped Marco into a bone crushing hug. "Uhhh, Tom? I'm right here, ya know." Star crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Then he laughed and released Marco, setting him back down on the ground.

"Dude! I thought I would never see you again!" Tom looked at Star and pulled her into a hug. "Sorry, Star. I thought we already had our reunion!"

"Oh hey, Star. Tom is looking for you." Star rolled her eyes as Ponyhead floated between the ex-lovers, pushing them apart with her neck. Ponyhead hovered over to Marco and snorted in his face. "Welcome back, Earthturd. I, like, totally thought you were dead or something."

Marco pierced his lip in annoyance. "Always good to see you too, Ponyhead."

"Ponyhead! You told me that Marco was safe on Earth just-like-20 minutes ago!" Star chided, throwing her hands in the air.

"What? I lied so that you would have felt better about being separated or something. Don't get angry at me for being a good friend or whatever." Without another thought, she got out her phone and began to take pictures.

"What are you doing?" Marco peeked over her shoulder, which she floated higher so he couldn't see.

"Stop being so nosy, Marco! Why do you have to be all up in my business?" She snorted, then opened her compact again to take more pictures. "I'm a business horse. I have fans who are dying to know what is happening to me. I have to show my adoring fans, okay?" She began posing for selfies, winking at the camera and flipping her mane.

Tom blinked then looked back at the pair. He noticed their hands intertwined and felt his heart lurch but quenched it. "She's got a point. What happened? It's like Earth and Mewni…" He gestured at the mix of the Mewni corn fields and suburban houses around them. "What did you guys do?"

Star and Marco glanced at each other, unsure of how to answer. Squeezing her hand, Marco stuttered, "I-I'm not sure! We were in the magic dimension. It was all stormy and stuff. And Glossaryck was all 'Go down with the ship.' And we hugged-then suddenly I was back here on Earth!"

"And I was on Mewni!" Star interjected, which Tom rolled his eyes.

"Star. I saw you there. I showed you the portal."

"Oh, right, right, right!" Star smiled at him. "And then I was running to the portal, then suddenly there was a big BOOM and flash of light, then-"

"Star was standing there! The portal was gone! And well, the worlds were merged!" Marco finished, still a bit confused but in awe of the situation. "Sooooooo, there is that."

"So, really, you have no idea what happened." Tom said, looking blank.

"We have no idea what happened." Marco and Star said in unison. "Whoa, jinx!" Tom rolled his eyes. _Not this again. _"So what happens now?" Marco asked, giving them a concerned look.

"Now, we deal with the consequences." A voice called out. The group turned, even Ponyhead, to see Moon standing there. She stood with her head held high, her face scrunched into a determined expression. She looked strange without her diamond cheek marks, almost older and more tired. River clamored from behind her, kicking off a taco bag that was attached to his heel.

"MOM! DAD!" Star cried as she raced toward them. She tackled them both into a hug, which softened Moon's expression. "Wait, where is Eclipsa? And Globgor? Meteora?! Are they alright?" As they separated, she placed a hand of Star's shoulder and smiled at her. Star still felt awkward toward her mom but they had promised to try and make things work and be a family again. She mustered up a smile and asked, "Soooo, I may have done something…"

Moon looked at Marco, who meekly waved a hand at her. "So I noticed." She stated, looking back at Star. "And to answer your question, everyone is fine. I left them at the Monster Temple to help anyone who comes by." She paused, taking a shaky breath. She didn't want to hurt their relationship more but matters had to be taken into consideration. "I know you are very excited to be back on Earth with Marco, but there is going to be a lot of confusion and chaos. I…I don't know quite what to make of it. There are a lot of scared people out there who will need someone to explain what has happened here." She paused as she glanced around herself. "I for one could do with an explanation."

Star rubbed her arm and looked bashfully away. "I may have caused this-but it was a total accident! Honest!" She glanced over at Marco and blushed. "A good accident, but still. Plus, there is no magic, so how much worse could things get?"

BOOM! The sky lit up with an explosion as a gas station blew up. People ran screaming in every direction. One monster jumped onto a neighboring house and hid behind the chimney. A bus swerved to the explosion and careened to a halt. A crowd of Mewmans rushed the bus with pitchforks and stones and began to attack it, screaming it was a metal dragon. The bus driver jumped out of the window, ducked into a roll, then popped on his wheelies on his shoes and skated away. Mermaids near the flames began splashing water from the river as best as they could to no avail.

"You just had to say it." Tom sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah, baby! BURN BABY BURN! WOOHOO!" Ponyhead turned her phone to the scene and began speaking to her phone. "Welcome to the Ponyhead Show! I'm your host, Ponyhead! Today, I am going to save a bunch a people while looking fabulous doing it!" She whipped her head to the left and screeched, "Sea Horse! Get my good side! Let's go!"

Sea Horse dashed out from the bushes he was hiding in, sprayed himself with a spray bottle full of water, then pulled out a movie camera. "Coming, my sweet!" He called, dashing after the floating pony who began to float toward the carnage.

The group stared after them, realizing there was little to be done. "Marco, where is the nearest governor or king that I may speak to?" Moon asked.

"Uhhh, we don't have a king. We're a democracy. But the mayor's office is…." Marco paused, turning around in a circle. He scratched his head and looked doubtfully at the former queen. "Well, I don't know where it is but I'm sure we can find it!"

"We really Starred it up this time, didn't we?" Star asked. She looked at her parents with guilt in her eyes. Moon's face softened, but it was her father who answered her.

"Of course not, my dear! We will survive. Live off the wild. We can build a yurt colony again! Why, I-" The former king puffed up his chest, but Moon placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's just find someone who can help sort this out, shall we?" Moon placated him, then waved at her daughter. "Star, we will be going. If you want…we can meet at the Monster Castle before sundown…If you want."

Star paused. She wanted to rebuild this relationship but the hurt was still fresh. _Well, there is only one way to fix that. _"Sure, Mom. See you then." She watched as her parents began their search to find someone to create order from this chaos.

"We really did it this time, guys." Star muttered, turning toward the two boys.

"What do you mean _**we**_?" Tom asked. He turned and began to walk toward the river.

"Where are you going?" Marco asked as he walked to catch up with his best friend.

Tom looked over at him and Star, a small, wistful smile on his face. "You guys got a lot to talk about." Star and Marco blushed as Tom waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, I'm totally cool with it. And besides-I'm gonna go find Janna."

"JANNA!" Star's eyes lit up, feeling excitement over the possibilities of double dates and picnics and sugarittas! "You're gonna go find Janna?"

Waving his hands in front of him, Tom signaled her to calm down. "Whoa, not like that. Just-I'm friends with her is all."

"Someone you can be best friends with?" Star nudged him and Tom huffed.

"Uhh, no Star?" He turned to Marco. "Do you know where she is?"

Marco put a finger on his chin. "Well, she was at Britta's Tacos when I raced after the portal. I guess she died or-"

"WHAT?!"

"Whoa! She only died for 60 seconds!"

The three friends laughed and began to walk toward Britta's Tacos, unsure of the future but certain that Janna was…well, Janna.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I realized that I hadn't written a story immediately after the Cleaving of Earth and Mewni; however, I wanted it to be a bit different from everything else I have read. First, the ending was beautiful in a wistful, what it is over?!, kind of way and I wanted it to take place a couple minutes after. Thanks for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Inspiration struck and I was able to write another chapter today! (I might not get another chance for a week or two due to a crazy schedule next week.) Thank you guys for supporting my random assortment of stories and reviewing them! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please feel free to review and critic! I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any characters or stories. Hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter 4: Date Night **

"You have my contact information?"

"Yep!"

"And you remember her bedtime is at 8:30?"

"Uhh, of course!"

"And you have her Princess Turdina doll? She likes to bite her head off when she's nervous. Or angry. Or really whenever she feels like it. She takes that after her father-"

"ECLIPSA! She'll be fine!" Star smiled at the worried ex-queen. Eclipsa patted her hair, glancing at her husband before turning back to Star.

"You will call us if anything happens?"

"Eclipsa, we've watched her before. We got it, as Star would say, like a bicycle-totally handled!" Marco reassured her, bouncing Mariposa on his knee. His little sister giggled in glee, clapping her hands in joy. Meteora crawled over, looked up at Marco, and hissed. Cringing, he put his sister down, which the two babies began to play instantly like sisters. Marco stood up and skidded over by Star, taking a large sidestep away from Meteora. "Haha…yeah. Go have fun on your date."

Biting her lip, Eclipsa glanced at the two teens. It was the first time to leave her baby alone since the worlds were cleaved together. "Alright. We won't be out too late." She leaned down and kissed her daughter on the cheek.

"My dear, knowing you we will be out frighteningly too late!" Globgor laughed in his soft voice, pulling his wife by the hand.

Star put her arm around Marco's shoulders and waved at the couple. "You kids go have fun! But not toooooo much fun!" She winked, causing Marco to blush. "STAR!"

Closing the door behind them, Globgor took his wife's hand and lead her down the stairs of the Monster Temple. Repairs were still under way but for the most part their former castle was still livable. Eclipsa felt a weight lift on her heart, finally free of responsibilities.

The past four months had been meeting after meeting after meeting, discussing how the new world was going to be run. Moon had made amends with her and Star, working toward creating peace for everyone-monster, Mewman, and human alike. The two former queens worked together to educate and implement democracy among the Mewmans and Monsters, as well as advocate for equal rights for these new citizens. Censuses were taken, redistribution of resources, jobs, education-everything had changed. The newly dubbed Earthni was finally forming, each day bringing a positive new change. And each time Eclipsa came home from each day more exhausted than the last.

"You are strangely quiet, my dear. What is wrong?" Globgor asked as the couple exited the building, taking in the evening air. "I thought you would be excited to get away and have time to yourself."

"Oh, I am! It's just-" Eclipsa blinked, rubbing her eyes. "Well, honestly, I am utterly exhausted. Who knew being a despised queen who was overthrown would be the easy job." Sighing, she took a deep breath. "But enough about that! Let's go have some fun!" With a wink, she grabbed her husband by the arm and began to pull him toward some suburbs nearby.

After about 20 minutes, Globgor's stomach gave a tremendous growl. Laughing, Eclipsa pulled him toward a restaurant with two sticks protruding out of what looked to be a bowl. "Well, it seems that someone hasn't had enough protein in his diet!"

"What? I swore off eating humans! I thought that's what you wanted!"

The pair entered the restaurant, delightful aromas enveloping his noses. Taking a deep whiff at the same time, the couple released a sigh of delight at the same time. "Can I help you?" A small voice called. Globgor had to lower his head to see her, but the hostess stood eye level with Eclipsa. She eyed Globgor nervously, eyes the size of giant orbs. He smiled at her, revealing all his sharp, pointy teeth. Gasping in fear, she took a step back. Noticing this, Eclipsa took a step forward.

"Yes, we were passing by and noticed how delicious your establishment smelt and would like to try some of your food." Putting on an extra big smile, Eclipsa hoped her passing as a human would calm the poor girl down. Hiding the bottom half of her face behind two menus, the small girl nodded while gesturing toward a table in the back of the restaurant. She never took her eyes off of Globgor. "Thank you." Eclipsa took the menus from the girl as they were seated. Without another word, the girl dashed away, not to be seen again the rest of the night.

Globgor seemed to take this into stride, ignoring the girl's fear while looking at the menu. "What is all this food? I have never seen anything like this before!" Placing an elbow on the table, one leg wobbled, causing the table to slant harshly. Eclipsa coughed while raising an eyebrow at her husband. "Hehe, sorry dear." He lowered his elbow off the table and straightened it just as the waiter came to take their order.

"Welcome to Britta's Tacos-wait, no, sorry. I don't work there anymore." The waiter paused, looking confused at the couple before starting again. Eclipsa raised an eyebrow at Globgor, suppressing a smile. "Welcome to The Great Wall. I'm Oscar and I'll be your waiter this evening." The teenage boy flipped his short hair that fell just over his eye. "What will we be having tonight?"

Globgor and Eclipsa looked at each other before glancing at the boy. He didn't seem to be fazed by Globgor's appearance-but then again he didn't seem to be fazed by anything. "Well…" Eclipsa started, looking at the menu in her hand. "We are not sure. What do you like?"

Oscar's eyes lit up, his smile growing bigger. "Oh, I love chilidogs! With little Fritos on top. Or tacos with little pieces of cilantro. And I also really like pizza-but not the kind with pineapple on it. Or I like-"

"And you have all of these types of food here?" Eclipsa asked, biting her lip to not laugh at the silly boy.

"Oh, well, no. This is a Chinese restaurant."

Globgor slapped the table, smiling at him with crinkled eyes. "Then we will have four of the best Chinese you have!"

Oscar paused and blinked his eyes rapidly. He didn't seem fazed by Globgor's appearance but had a thoughtful look on his face. "Uhhh, well, Chinese are people. And food."

"Oh, well I don't eat people. Anymore…"

"Whoa-you used to eat people? Classic."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Eclipsa calmly placed her hands in front of her and asked, "Could we have some vegetarian dishes? Perhaps…" She gauged how hungry her husband looked. He was twirling his thumbs and glancing around the room, a sharp glean in his eye. "Perhaps one of every vegetarian dish you have."

"You got it!" Oscar turned around and sauntered to the kitchen. After he was out of earshot, Eclipsa and Globgor fell into a fit of giggles. Then the conversation began to flow, as easy as breathing. The two talked about Meteora growing so quickly, the awkwardness between Moon and Eclipsa, Globgor's new gig as a stay-at-home dad. The time began to fly by and before they knew it, the food was placed in front of their noses. Globgor's eyes grew the size of dinner plates (well, he already had large eyes to begin with) and began to reach for some rice when he realized he was being rude.

"Uhh, do you have any utensils?" He shrugged his shoulders, realizing he hadn't gotten anything.

"Oh hey! Usually Yen puts out the chopsticks but I haven't seen her in a while-hold on-" Oscar began fishing in his apron for something and pulled out two paper wrapped sets of chopsticks. "Here ya go! Enjoy!" He waltzed of back to the kitchen.

Unwrapping the chopsticks, Globgor took out the two wooden sticks and looked in confusion. "They stab their food with sticks? Earth really is barbaric!" Taking one stick in each hand, he stabbed his tofu and began shoveling it into his mouth. "Wow! But they do know how to cook!"

Eclipsa took her sticks, shrugged her shoulders, and began to twirl her chopsticks around her noodles like spaghetti and began to eat rapidly. Silence enveloped the table and before they knew it, all twelve plates were empty. Globgor let out a small belch but immediately placed a hand over his mouth. "Oh my, excuse me!" Eclipsa laughed and flagged down Oscar to pay. As they were leaving, Oscar called out, "Please, come again to Britta's Tacos!"

Linking his arm in hers, Globgor directed his wife toward a local park. The sun was setting over a hill. He smiled contentedly, guiding her to a bench and taking a seat. The bench sank under his weight and she slid onto his lap. "Well, this is lovely!" She chirped lightheartedly. She placed her head on his chest and looked to the sunset. Slowly, her eyes grew heavy. "I hope Meteora isn't giving Star too hard a time."

"And Marco!" Globgor added.

"Oh, yes. She most definitely is giving him a hard time. She does still seem to dislike him, doesn't she?" She felt Globgor chuckle as her eyes began to grow heavy. "I wish we could stay this way forever. These meetings have been…quite…"

She grew silent and still. "Quite what, dear?" Globgor looked down at her and realized she was dead asleep. He slowly put an arm around her to cradle her back so she would be more comfortable. "Well, with children, I guess this is what date nights becomes. Dinner and a nap." He sighed and continued to watch the sunset, his eyes beginning to close as well.

After what seemed like a couple of seconds, Eclipsa jerked awake, accidentally hitting her husband in the face. It was pitch black outside. The Earth moon was high above them while the Mewni moons were setting in the southwest. "GLOBGOR!"

"What? Who? What?" He stammered while rubbing his face. Seeing Eclipsa's eyes, the realization of the time hit him.

"METEORA!" The pair sprang up and dashed for the Monster Temple. To save time, Globgor thrust Eclipsa onto his shoulder and sprang into action, doubling his size to have larger strides. In just a few minutes time, they reached their home. Racing inside, Eclipsa flung open the door to find Star and Marco snoring on the floor. The room was in tatters-pillows flung on the floor, feathers strewn everywhere, chairs upturned, curtains falling off the wall. Globgor and Eclipsa stood deathly still, taking it all in. "What in Mewni?..." Star stirred, slowly waking up. She tapped Marco on the forehead, murmuring his name over and over. He woke with a jerk, taking stock of the room and the former queen and king of Mewni.

"Ohh, you're back." Eclipsa and Globgor gave the young couple a blank look. Slowly, Marco pulled Star up, who was still mumbling his name as if she was still asleep. Marco nudged her and she jerked to attention.

"Oh, you're back!" She called out to them with spread arms. Marco groaned and hit his forehead with his palm.

"Yes…We are." Eclipsa gestured to the room wordlessly. "And Meteora?"

"Sound asleep, next to Mariposa!" Star beamed at her, Marco glancing at Star as if encouraging her to say something. Star sighed then said, "So, you're probably wondering what is up with all the feathers and broken stuff. Weeeeeeeeell, we may have had a pillow fight once the babies were asleep and things got out of hand and well…yeah."

Globgor chuckled as he began to return the chairs to their upright position. "You should have seen the villages after I pillaged them."

Marco laughed as he began to pick up the destroyed pillows, then straightened up suddenly. "Wait-what?"

"How was date night? You got in pretty late-must have had a pretty good time-huh?" Star asked, quickly changing the subject from anything Mewman being eaten related. She wiggled her eyebrows cheekily.

Globgor and Eclipsa caught each other's eye before shrugging their shoulders. "Ohh, you know. Date night. Very exciting."

**Different kind of chapter! Not every chapter will focus on Star and Marco, but every chapter will have them in it. And most chapters will focus on them, in all honestly. Some will be silly like this chapter, some a little more serious. Plus, I thought it would be funny to see how Mewmans would react to the different cultures of Earth. Hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to review and critic! Thank you for reading! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again my fellow Star vs the Forces of Evil lovers! Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. Thank you again for reading, following, and favoriting my story You are so appreciated! I also wanted to make a few shout-outs! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much for your reviews and encouragement! **

**SugarQueen97: Your reviews are so appreciated! And I love to subvert expectations sometimes, so glad you liked the surprises and seeing from different perspectives. **

**Shaeril McBrown: Thank you for your review and hope you are enjoying the stories! **

**Sugar: Yeah, Star was being a bit unfair to Tom, she just didn't realize it. Tom is a good friend who realizes this about her and tries to brush it off. And I am with you-sugar and kisses are fine in fanfics, but sometimes it is just too much! **

**Ngame: Your review was so encouraging, thank you very much! It is true, the angst is fun in some fics but it is nice to write more lighthearted stories. Not every story will be happy since life isn't always happy but our two main characters are generally positive so I try to stay with them! **

**Luci96: So glad you are enjoying the chapters! Thank you so much for your review and for reading the stories! **

**Chapter 5: Equality **

Marco ruffled his hair with his hand, taking a couple of deep breaths, before entering the Principal's office. He glanced down, seeing his 13-year old sister, Mariposa, looking up at him guiltily. She was knocking her knees together over and over, her eyes red from unshed tears. Next to her sat Meteora, a scowl on her face. She glared up at Marco, as if challenging him to a duel. Marco closed the door behind him as the Principal began to address him. "Ah, Mr. Diaz. I was expecting your parents."

"Good afternoon, Principal…? Yeah, they are in Mexico visiting my grandparents. I'm taking care of my sister right now. My wife should be here any minute…"

BAM! The door swung up, showing a very pregnant Star. Her hair was tossed haphazardly into a bun and her eyes were flashing. "I'm here! Sorry! I had to pee for the fourth time in an hour, but I'm here." _Pregnancy Hormones. This ought to be fun. _Marco thought as he took another breath to steel his mind before turning toward the principal of Echo Creek Middle School. The principal was a Mewman who had completely assimilated into Earthni culture. He looked vaguely familiar…

"Wait, I think I know you. Aren't you that guard…"

"Oh yes. I remember you! Storming my tower. FOUR TIMES! Four different holes. And you-" The principal turned toward Star, his eyes narrowed. Star snapped her attention to him, narrowing her eyes right back. She kept arranging herself to sit in the chair while cradling her belly. "You were queen for less than a week and the whole kingdom was destroyed! Then you let that 'woman' become Queen and run the kingdom to the ground!"

Meteora shot up, fists balled and tail whipping agitatedly. "DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!"

Star, on the other hand, finally slammed down into a seat. She glared at the man, face red from exertion. "It's okay Meteora-we got this." She placed a hand on the young girl's arm, guiding her down into her seat. Meteora sank low into the seat, arms crossed. Star turned back to the man, a creepily, sweet smile on her face, her voice low. "I am nine months pregnant, three days past my due date. You have called my husband and me to come talk about my sister and her best friend over something as dumb as disturbing class. Now you are insulting me and my fake great-great-something grandma, and you get upset about a couple HOLES IN YOUR WALL?!"

Everyone leaned away from the pregnant ex-princess. Marco blanched. Star had reached her supernova point. Why anyone called it pregnancy glow, he would never know. He loved his wife with his whole heart-but that baby couldn't come ANY faster. At least the pregnancy hormones weren't directed toward him. The principal…what was his name again…blinked, taken aback. Star still had that creepy smile on her face but she was breathing heavily. Mariposa pierced her lips together, obviously feeling awkward. Meteora had a small smile of victory, an eyebrow raised to challenge the man.

Marco slowly placed a hand over Star's, trying to calm her. He smiled at her but directed his question to the annoying little man in front of them. "What exactly happened that you had to call us down here during the middle of the work day?" Star slowly leaned back in her chair, the smile slowly fading into a frown. Judging by the look on her face, Marco could tell that she was holding back a few choice words-though whether it was at him or the principal he couldn't be sure.

"Yes, thank you MR. DIAZ. The incident took place in the girls' history class. Your sister tore up a homework assignment, crumpled it up, and threw it into her teacher's face."

"Mari!" Marco cried, glaring at his sister incredulously. "Nice one!" Star raised her hand for a high-five, which Marco immediately forced her hand down. "Seriously, Star?..." He turned back to his sister. Her eyes were red, tears pricking them. Mariposa's teeth were clenched and her hands balled into fists in her lap. "Mariposa Diaz, why would you do that?"

Meteora glanced up at the adults, answering for her best friend. "Because she was standing up for me!" Marco glanced over at the young half-Mewman. He had a…let's just say tumultuous relationship with the young girl. Though he trusted Mariposa to make the right decisions, Meteora on the other hand…

Meteora took a deep breath, as Mariposa stood up for her. "Meteora, you don't have to-" Meteora waved off Mariposa's exclamation, sitting up in her chair.

"No. Don't try to fix this for me. We were in class, getting back our reports on what point of history would we most like to return to. I wrote mine on Mewnipendence Day, how I would have liked to make peace instead of fighting."

"And the teacher said it wasn't a real event. It had to be something from Earth. She just-just-just said that Meteora was telling lies! It made me so mad…I told her we worked on our papers together and her paper was really good, just as good as mine! It was unfair because she made an F and I got an A. Then Meteora asked if she could write it again, which the teacher said no. So I asked if I could, which she said yes. And I just…yeah." The words spewed out of Mariposa, tears finally falling down her face. Star seethed in her seat, slowly working to get up. She was shifting angrily, glaring accusingly at the principal.

"When I get up, mister, you are soooooooo in trouble! Dang, what I wouldn't give to Narwhal Blast you right now!"

The principal-man, what did he say his name was again-smirked at the trouble makers. "So you see, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz-Butterfly, this calls for immediate discipline. Your sister-"

"WAS JUST STANDING UP FOR ME!" Meteora howled, standing up so quickly her chair flew into the wall behind her.

"Go outside, Ms. Butterfly-you may sit outside and wait for your friend there." Meteora gapped at him, her hands trembling. It was moments like these Marco was grateful her memory didn't extend to when she sucked the souls out of people…Though he knew better than to touch her, he gave her a pleading look. Meteora glared at him but gave a curt nod-she must have realized he was just trying to help his sister. Wheeling around on her heel, she stormed out the door, slamming it shut behind her. All the pictures and plaques fell, shattering on the floor.

Star finally managed to stand herself up, waving her hand for balance. Just as she whirled around to give the principal a piece of her mind, Marco stood up quickly, placing an arm around her shoulder. "Honey, Meteora seemed pretty upset. You know how she…dislikes me. Could you…?" Her eyes began to water, a small smile gracing her face. _That's what they mean by pregnancy glow. _Marco's heart leapt for his wife as she smiled at him. After being together for over 13 years, Star Butterfly could give him butterflies.

"Marco…how did I find such a great husband who cares so much for-" Star began while Mariposa stood up. Marco must have had a goofy look on his face because she rolled her eyes at him as she helped Star waddle to the door.

"Yeah, he's great. Got it." Mariposa opened the door for her sister-in-law and gently shoved her out. Star gave Marco a wink as she closed the door behind her. Whirling around in annoyance, Mariposa stated, "Really? You've been married almost five years and have a kid on the way!"

Blushing, Marco sat back down. Sometimes Star just brought out the teenage boy in him. His sister followed suit, though she still looked nervous and guilty. The principal rolled his eyes and looked at the two siblings. "So, we have to take affirmative action, Mr. Diaz. Three days in-school suspension."

"What, no!" Mariposa sprang up, tears threatening to fall. "I've never even had detention. This is the first time I've even gotten in trouble at school!"

"She's right! That is just-harsh!" Turning toward the Mewman, he looked him in the eye. "How about a compromise." He winked at Mariposa, willing her to trust him. She raised an eyebrow but bit her lip to keep from saying anything. "She and Meteora both rewrite their papers and Mari has two days detention."

"WHAT?!"

"Five days detention."

"Three."

"Deal-Mr. Diaz. Now, get out of my office!" The principal jabbed a finger toward the door, then swiveled his chair to face the window behind him. Obviously, there was no room for negotiation. Marco stood up slowly, thanked him for his time and gestured for Mariposa to follow him out. Jerking her chair, she stood up angrily and followed her big brother out. The moment the door was shut behind them, she exploded.

"DETENTION?! Marco-what the heck? I trusted you to help me-"

"And I did, Mari!" He glanced at Star and Meteora, who were down the hall watching them. The two began to make their way toward them. Taking a deep breath, Marco slowly released it and counted to three. "Okay, Diaz… Look Mariposa, you did throw the paper in your teacher's face. Honestly, three days detention is light. I know this doesn't seem fair-"

"They treat her differently than me!" Mariposa cried, angry tears finally flowing down her face. Meteora and Star had reached them, each putting a hand on her shoulder. The young girl shook off their hands and began to pace. "Meteora wrote an amazing paper on something that actually happened and she gets punished because she's not human!" She continued to pace, her body shook. Marco's heart lurched. _When did she become so grown up? _

Star took her by the shoulders lovingly. Mariposa blinked up at her, then her face crumpled. She flung herself at Star, wrapping her arms around her middle and sobbed. Grunting in pain, Star grimaced but returned the embrace. Meteora came around back and patted Mariposa on her shoulder. "It's not fair!" She cried into Star's chest. She continued to sob for a few minutes but eventually it slowed to deep breathing and shutters. When she finally was cried out, she slowly straightened up, face red with embarrassment. "Sorry, Star…"

"Don't be sorry! That's what sisters are for!" She giggled and smiled down at Mariposa. "He seems to think you're right. He keeps kicking every couple minutes anyway. Fight the system, Baby!" Mariposa giggled back, a small hiccup escaping her.

Marco pulled Mariposa into a quick hug, then looked her in the eye. "Look, you did the right thing in class. People aren't treated fairly. Equality takes time. Even after 13 years of Earthni, people still treat monsters badly. That's why your sister-in-law is a lawyer and your awesome, amazing, big brother is a cop. We fight to help people. But we have to do it in the right way. And remember that it takes time." Mariposa blushed and looked down at the ground. Thrusting an arm around his sister's shoulders, Marco smiled. "I'm proud of you, Mariposa Diaz!" Whipping her head up, she gazed at her brother with a small smile on her face.

Meteora rolled her eyes. "As much as I hate to agree with Muscles over here, he's got a point. I've dealt with this my whole life. I really appreciate you standing up for me, Mari, but I have to fight my own battles sometimes too. But…Thanks. You're the best." Meteora smiled at her friend, slapped Marco's arm away, ("Hey!") and threw her arm around Mariposa's shoulders. Mariposa giggled at her brother's indignant face.

"Great! Everyone is happy! Now-my stomach aches. Like, every five or six minutes! So, Mama Star says it's time to eat some Sugarittas!" Star smiled at everyone, wrapping everyone in a big hug. The other three paused, looking at each other in concern.

Marco was the first one to speak. "Uhh, Star? I think you're in labor."

"WHAT?! HOLY CORN!"

**Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! I wanted it to feel real and relatable because sometimes people are treated unequally but no one does anything about it or they get in trouble. Thank you again for reading! Please continue to review and critic! See you again next time! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again! Thank you for reading my collection of short stories and commenting, favoriting, and following! Hope you have been enjoying them. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or anything related to this amazing show. **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed chapter 5. **

**Sugar: Haha yeah, Marco being a cop made more sense to me since he was a knight and always fighting alongside Star! **

**Rose Star: Thank you so so much! I really appreciate your kind words! I hope you continue to like the stories I write. **

**Chapter 6: Flexible **

Star slowly steadied her breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Looking over to Janna next to her, she still couldn't get over that her weird, quirky friend loved yoga as much as she did. Star sighed, closing her eyes and stretching her body. Inner peace. Find your center. She began to wobble as she extended her left leg behind her. For most people, this would be difficult, but for Star, fighting monsters, soul-sucking princesses, and working with her extremely Type-A mother made her very flexible. Fighting down annoyance, she breathed in again. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale-

"UGH! THIS IS SO BORING!" Suddenly the soft music stopped. Star snapped open her eyes to see a small group of humans, Mewmans, and monsters glaring at her. "Oh…Did I say that out loud?" Star felt a hand on her shoulder to see the instructor behind her. "Sorry?"

The instructor kept a tranquil look but her words sounded like venom. "This is the fourth time in two weeks. I think you should find another class." She turned over toward Janna, who was in a meditative pose watching the scene unfold with one eye. "Perhaps you both should." Star glanced over at Janna, who opened both eyes and gave an annoyed huff. Star, feeling awkward and unsure of how to react, picked up her mat and gathered her things.

"Hope you find your inner peace or Namaste or whatever!" Giving a wave, she dashed toward the door. It couldn't have been fast enough. As the two friends left the building into the blinding summer sun, Janna whipped around her yoga mat from her back and held it in front of herself as she sighed.

"Whelp, guess I'll have to find another way to travel to Saturn." She quickly took her yoga mat and dumped it in a nearby dumpster.

Star stared at her friend in horror. "JANNA! I am soooooo sorry! I didn't mean to cause you any trouble-it just was so boring and I couldn't _take it _anymore! All we do is stretch and breath and-wait. Travel to Saturn?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Janna smirked at Star. "You're supposed to become one with the universe, so I thought eventually I would get to Saturn. Mars was kind of boring. The aliens were boring and there was too much red." She continued forward as if nothing had happened. "Well, guess I'll see you later. I have a hot date at the monster truck graveyard. Namaste." She bowed and winked at Star, leaving her to ponder her words.

Later that evening, Star sat in the Monster Temple where her mom and dad were having dinner with Eclipsa and Globgor. It was amazing what two years can do to save a relationship! That, and Star forced them to have dinner together once a week.

Pushing her peas around, she glanced around the table. Usually Marco was there to help out with the awkwardness, but today he was teaching a karate class to six-year old's. _Dang you, Marco Diaz! Why do you have to be such a sweet idiot? _Eclipsa was quietly shoving carrots into her mouth while Globgor was using chopsticks to spear his tofu bites. For some reason they just loved eating with chopsticks. Moon, on the other hand, was politely munching on her potatoes, looking extremely bored. River-well, he controlled the conversation, as per usual.

"And then I slaughtered the beast, spilling his entrails on the ground. It splashed our knight, Sir…well, I can't quite recall his name at the moment, but he told everyone the stains were from a-"

"River, dear? Could we please not talk about spilled entrails at the dinner table?" Moon frowned at him, her eyes narrowed. Star noticed Globgor hanging onto her dad's every word, a small pool of saliva forming in his gapping mouth.

"Oh…yes. Sorry, Moon Pie."

Eclipsa laughed good naturedly at the former king, her eyes twinkling. "That is quite alright, Moon. Globgor goes into such detail about his former hunts as well."

"And weren't his former hunts for Mewmans?"

Realizing another argument might break out (and two years still might not be enough time to mend some hurts) Star exclaimed, "Sooooooo, how about that tofu casserole? It sure was delicious!" Everyone turned to her, blank stares all around.

"Yes, I suppose it is rather tasty." Eclipsa frowned at Star, her eyebrows scrunched. "Star, dear. You look…like you want to talk about something. Is everything alright?"

Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. "Haha, of course not! Just hung out with Janna today at yoga-which is totally boring. Totally, totally, totally." She pushed herself up from her seat at the table. "Well, I'm stuffed and have to get ready for classes to start next week. Senior year. Woooo….Okay." She walked away, leaving her family behind with concerned looks on their faces.

Star wasn't sure what was wrong. She couldn't put it into words. Janna had said she had traveled the universe…Quickly, Star began to sprint toward her room. She still lived in the Monster Temple with Eclipsa because her mother refused to let her live with Marco since they started dating and her parents lived in their own yurt colony. Finally, she reached her room and quickly slammed the door shut behind her.

Glancing around her room, she noticed her yoga mat rolled up on the floor. _Travel the universe. _Quickly, she rolled out her mat and laid it out on the floor. Star stood, hands in front of her. Inhale. Exhale. She slowly began to stretch, arms and legs shifting into positions and holding tight. Inhale. Exhale. Did she have to stretch her mind? Think about the different planets? Inhale. Exhale. Or maybe she had to think of her body stretching to that planet. Inhale. Exhale. Maybe-

"Star? What are you doing? I thought you hated yoga!" Jumping out of her skin, Star fell from her pose onto the floor. Marco was standing at the doorway of her room, his eyebrows raised in amused confusion.

"Holy Corn, Marco! Can you knock?"

"Uhh, you never knock. You just kick the door down."

"Okay, Marco. You don't have to be right all the time."

Marco smirked and ignored her comment as he came into the room and sat on the edge of her bed. "So why are you doing yoga? I thought you hated it!" He was still in his karate uniform, dried sweat on his brow.

Star sighed and moved to sit next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and took a deep sniff. She gagged a little but smiled. Nothing had the best worst smell than Marco. He put an arm around her shoulder as she sighed again. "Janna told me all about how she traveled to Mars because she became one with the universe while meditating in yoga. Janna was probably just trolling me." She straightened up to look at him. "I am so glad that Earth and Mewni merged and things are looking better, but…"

Giving her a strange look, Marco lifted her chin up to look her in the eye. "I miss our adventures together too."

Her heart melted a little as he looked down at the mat. "Okay, so how do we do this? Do we just sit with our legs crossed or move into different positions or what?" He got up, taking her by the hand to the mat. Star smiled up at him as she adjusted herself into a mountain pose. Marco followed suit with a slight smile on his face. "Do I have it right?"

Giving him a quick peck on the check, Star smiled back at him. "Totally. But your pose is all wrong." She adjusted his arms then began to demonstrate how to breath.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Star and Marco continued to do the different poses for a while. No words were exchanged. Finally, after what seemed at ages to Star, she roared in frustration.

"THIS ISN'T WORKING! Janna, you wily fox. You probably never went to Mars!" She stamped her foot in anger, crossing her arms in front of her. She glanced at Marco, who was wobbling in the tree pose. His eyes were closed but he had a slight smile on his face.

"Well, Star, maybe you should be more flexible."

Rolling her eyes, she used her index finger and pushed him over.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Personally, I know very little about yoga, but Star seems like the type of person who would find it slow and boring. Marco-he would probably love it! Also, I bet they miss their dimensional adventures together! Thank you again for reading and hope you enjoyed! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again! Thanks again for reading my short stories about Star and Marco's adventures after Cleaved! I appreciate everyone who has favorited, followed, and commented on my stories-but most importantly, thank you for reading! I cannot thank you enough! Anyway, I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of the characters or stories-or, well, anything. **

**Chapter 7: Game of Flags-The Second One **

"Welcome to the annual Butterfly-Johannsen family reunion. Please, if everyone could take their seats." The announcer who took Manfred's place (though everyone just called him Manfred 2) called out to everyone in attendance at the small park near the Flags hill. Star felt herself vibrate with anticipation.

"It's soooo close, Marco!" She shook him by the arms back and forth, causing him to roll his eyes. "FLAAAAAAAAGS!"

Marco took her hands off him and pinned them at her sides. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Star. Can't we just enjoy the food?" Turning toward the table and sitting down, he examined the food. "Now, what should I eat? Creamed corn? Grilled corn? Ooh, popcorn!" He grabbed a spoon and began tossing different selections onto his plate. Star huffed, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Seriously, Marco? How can you eat at a time like this?"

He glanced around at all the Johannsen's stuffing food down their gullets, smacking their lips, and otherwise being completely obnoxious. He looked to the other side of the table where the Butterflys all sat, quietly munching their food and sipping their goblets. "Uhh, because everyone else is eating and I'm hungry?" Just as he raised a cob to his mouth, it was smacked out of his hands onto the grass. "No! My sweet, sweet buttered corn! What was that for?"

Ignoring his question, she grabbed his hand and squeezed extremely hard. "Look-it's happening!" She squealed in delight as her Aunt Felicity began staring daggers at one of her many cousins on her father's side. Her uncle then moved in front of his son and burped loudly in Aunt Felicity's direction.

"You are so uncouth!"

"How dare you call me an old coot!"

"The Butterfly Family has been tainted!"

"We Johannsen's know how to party-you old wombat!"

The screaming continued from both sides, Moon sitting quietly, massaging her temples. River, on the other hand, continued screaming at the Butterflys, getting more wound up. Finally, Moon straightened up and shouted, "ENOUGH! Why don't you solve this issue in a more civilized manner?"

"Moon Pie is right! We should solve this in a more civilized manner-with FLAGS!" Reaching behind himself, River whipped out his flag, which had a blue R sewn into the design. "FLAGS!" Both sides of the family raised their voices and began to cheer as they dashed down the park toward the Flags hill. Though magic was gone, there was still the different zones on the Flags hill to battle to the death. Moon sighed in defeat and slumped back into her chair.

"Ugh. Every time…Star, can you make sure your father doesn't get killed?"

Turning to glance beside him, Marco realized that she was already gone. "Uhh, Moon?" Moon turned toward him with a raised eyebrow then sighed in annoyance. She just flicked her wrist and stated, "Just go, Marco." Nodding his head, he raced toward his girlfriend who was already lining up with her family members. He dashed beside her and looked at their competition. Before he could open his mouth to ask what the game plan was, Manfred 2 shot off the cannon and the game began.

"Come on, Marco! Let's go!" Star tugged his hand and began to pull him toward the first zone. Marco felt something get thrust into his hand and realized Star had designated him to holding the flag. Dashing after the ex-princess, he raced past feuding family members. One Butterfly was wrapped in chains, his mouth gagged. A Johansen stumbled around dazed, laughing at nothing but had a suspicious cloud around his head. "Watch out for my Great Aunt Emberia, she has a hallucination powder!" Star called as the pair continued up the mountain.

As he raced after her, Marco felt a tugging on his leg and was immediately his knees hit the ground. "How does the mountain have all those zones still-Ahhh! Something's got me!" Turning around, he saw one of Star's elderly grandmas on the Butterfly side had him caught by her cane. She held on to the tennis ball as she hooked his leg behind the knee and pulled. "I've got you now, Earth Boy! Prepare to die!" _What is UP with Star's family?! _Wrapping his ankle around the cane, he pulled with all his might, flinging her forward-right into Star's arms.

"Sorry, Aunt Etheria!" She then causally tossed the old lady down the hill, where she landed on her butt , her cane hitting her on the head. "That's Aunt Etheria, she's sisters with Emberia. Both are super deadly-now hurry up, Marco! Why are you waiting around?"

She dashed off toward the rain zone. Marco sighed-why did they have to play Flags every family reunion? Entering the rain zone, he felt a chill immediately fill his bones. His hair plastered to his face as he followed his girlfriend up the hill. "Star! Seriously! Winning Flags is not all that it seems cracked up to be! I would know, I won last time!" As he finally reached her, a lightning bolt zapped one of the Johansen cousins, who coughed and fell forward in a faint. "Whoa! We gotta help-Oumph!" Star had stopped right in front of him, causing him to run into her elbow.

"Shut it, Marco!" Standing in a defensive position, Star narrowed her eyes to see out of the rain. "Look." Marco's heart leapt into his throat as he saw a line of Butterflys and Johannsen's standing side by side facing the young couple. Blood lust filled their eyes. Marco gulped, wishing he was down the hill eating corn with Moon.

"Ahh, Princess Star and the little boy who somehow defeated us in the last Flags. Who are you again?"

"Ummm, her boyfriend?"

The family laughed on both sides, making color rise to Marco's cheeks. "Boyfriend. Haha! As if my niece would deem to date someone from Earth of all places. They must get it from the Johansen side of the family."

"No way! She's a Butterfly, she gets if from Eclipsa!"

"They are not even related-unlike you!"

The two sides began to scream at one another, until one Butterfly wrestled a Johannsen uncle nto the mud. The two sides rushed to each other and began to thrash on one another. Star and Marco blinked, shrugged their shoulders, and dashed around the brawl toward the snow zone. As they were running, Star tripped over something and feel face forward into a pile of snow.

"BRRRRRRRR!" She cried out, spitting out snow from her mouth and shaking it out of her considerable amount of hair. As Marco reached to help her up, he too was shoved from behind. Face-planting in the snow, Marco spat out a chunk of ice and looked up to see two Johansen cousins racing past them while laughing wildly. Shaking a fist and growling, Marco stood up and began to race up the hill. Seriously, how did it have all the zones? The pair began to gain on the two cousins, who looked behind them nervously. "Marco!" He heard Star's cry before noticing a wall of snow rushing straight to his face. Star grabbed him and the two hunkered down, clinging to each other to brace for the oncoming avalanche when-

"HA-HA!" Suddenly, Marco felt wind rushing in his hair and face. Someone besides Star was holding onto his back. Splitting open one eye, he realized they were flying above the snow!

"Star!" He cried, swiveling around to see the blonde clinging to him, her hair flying behind her. Glancing up, he saw who had saved them-River had Marco by the shoulders, flying by a jet pack. "River! You saved us! And you…have a jetpack?" Whipping around, the king flew toward the pair as he hovered over a massive snowball fight between four Butterflys and three Johannsen's.

Landing promptly in the forest zone near where it met the lava and artic areas, River dumped the pair unceremoniously. "My dear, are you alright?!"

"Dad!" Star straightened up and rushed to hug her father. "Oh, thank you Papa! We were goners for sure! And dang we are missing an epic snowball fight! Did you see Cousin Patrick? And where did you get that flying machine? It is SWEEEEET!"

River bristled and held his daughter at an arms-length. Marco slowly straightened up and noticed River still has his daughter by the shoulders. This all seemed eerily familiar. "Quite right, Star. I commandeered this contraption from Globgor who had bought it for Meteora but she isn't old enough to fly. Anyway-onward!" He released Star and began to race up the mountain without looking back. Something seemed off but Marco took a deep breath and released it.

"Star, I think your dad is up to something."

"MARCO! My dad would never betray us for flags!"

"Uhhh, didn't you throw him down the mountain last year?"

"That's different! Now come on Marco!" Star waved him off as she dashed after her father. Marco shook his head, not really sure how it was different. He picked up their flag and began to follow the princess up the mountain. Dodging trees in the forest zone, Marco saw Star and River hacking away to vines that had entangled them. Biting at a vine, Star mumbled something that Marco couldn't quite catch-but he got the gist.

Grabbing the tip of the flag, Marco began hacking away at the vines, swishing left and right until the forest gave way and the former royals dumped down onto the ground. "Well done, Marco, my boy! Well done! Now-FLAGS!" Powering up his jetpack, he flew straight up-only to be caught in more vines…

"Ugh…" Marco sighed and moved to shimmy up a tree, hacking away until River was free again.

"Right. Thank you Marco-now-FLAGS!" River blasted his jetpack and dashed toward the opening where the forest met the lava zone. Star and Marco exchanged dubious glances but charged after him. Marco rolled his eyes-was this going to happen every family reunion they went to? But he loved his girlfriend so he had to get used to her family gatherings…She was worth it.

Suddenly, a wave of heat hit his face as the three players reached a vast lava pit. "Serious, how does this mountain still have all these zones?" Marco shook his head in disbelief as suddenly River's jetpack puttered out and he landed on his butt on the lid of the lava lake. Shrieking in dismay, Star and Marco dashed toward him and heaved him away from the lava.

Panting heavily, Star helped her father to his feet, wrapping her arms around him. "Dad! You're okay! I was so worried about you."

"Thank you, my dear. I'm quite alright. But you, on the other hand-" Without warning, River picked Star up in a bear hug and tossed her down the hill where she rolled down the snow. She continued to roll down the hill, calling after her dad. "Good one…Dad….I'll get you…..next year….MARCOOOOOOO!" She finally slowed to a stop at the bottom of the snow zone, where the snowball battle had ended in a stalemate with members on both sides laying dazed on the ground.

Whirling around to the former king, Marco threw his hands in the air. "You just threw your daughter down the mountain!"

"All is fair in love and war, Marco. And flags." Suddenly, River tugged the flag out of Marco's hands with such strength that Marco was dragged forward, falling onto his face.

"Oww…." Then, Marco felt something being buckled to his back. "Wait-River, don't-"

WHOOOOOOOOSH!

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Marco flew down the mountain, his hair whipping behind his head, arms and legs flailing in every direction. Snow streamed around him when suddenly-BAM-Marco smacked into Star who was just standing up as the jetpack flew off his back. "Owwww."

Seeing stars, the teenage boy rolled onto his back, spots dancing in front of his eyes. Looking to his left, he saw Star doing the same thing while blinking rapidly. "Star? Are you okay?

"Yeah….Totally, totally, totally. Just gotta…gotta…stop seeing narwhals flying in the sky." The former princess blinked again and looked at Marco, her hair spilling behind her. "Now that's what I call flags!" She brightened up and sat up quickly, only to go cross-eyed and fall back into the snow. "Okay, maybe I'll just lay her for a while."

Marco laughed and laid his head back onto the snow as well. Suddenly, a war cry filled his ears. Rubbing his head, Marco slowly sat up and saw River dancing on top of the hill, whooping and dancing with his flag planted firmly at the top. "Hey Star! Your dad won!"

"Who?" Star asked in a daze, a goofy smile on her face. Shaking his head, Marco realized he probably should get his girlfriend to a hospital. Glancing behind him, he saw several members of Star's family cradling hurt limbs, knocked out cold, or entangled in various traps all down to the bottom of the hill. Rushing around the losing players was Moon, who raced toward Star and Marco.

"Star! Are you alright? Are you hurt?!" Moon fell to her knees and gazed at her daughter. Star gazed back at her mom without answering, a dopey smile on her face. "Marco! What happened?!"

Scratching his head, Marco wasn't sure how to respond. However, Manfred 2 knew just what to say. "It was Former King River, milady. He-"

"HAS WON THE DAY!" Rive pranced down the snow, sliding on his boots until he slid to a stop in front of Moon with his chest puffed out. "Moon Pie-I claim my prize! A kiss from a beautiful maiden."

"River! Did you-" She was cut short as he tackled his wife into a bearhug, shutting her up with a kiss on the lips. Moon rolled her eyes but didn't fight the kiss, slowly releasing from him with a hand cradled to his face. "River…hem…I'm glad you won this beastly game, but what happened to our daughter?"

"No time for that now, dear! I must go rub this in your Aunt Etheria's face!" Glancing down at Star, River grimaced and eyed Marco wearily. "Well now, she seems like she will be alright. Marco, make sure she gets down safely. Come, dear!" River tugged Moon by the arm and raced down the mountain. Marco rolled his eyes and glanced back at Star. She seemed to be coming to, though her eyes were a little glazed over.

Slowly, she began to move her arms and legs back and forth, making a snow angel. "Well, Marco. There is always next year."

"Star, we need to get you to the hospital. I think you have a concussion!"

"Marco. Marco. Marco. Sweet, cute, simple Marco. We have to plan-next year's Flags will be much harder!" Star continued to make her snow angel, though with her headband laying just above her head it looked more like a snow devil.

Rolling his eyes, Marco sighed at his girlfriend. "Star, winning isn't everything. Let's just get you to the hospital. Come on, I'll help you up."

Reaching for his hand, Star allowed him to help her up. She stumbled, forcing Marco to wrap his arms around her middle to support her weight. "Whoops. Sorry. So, when is the Diaz family reunion? Do you think your parents would let Mariposa play flags?" The pair began to slowly walk down the Flags Mountain, Marco supporting Star with an arm wrapped around her shoulder. He pierced his lips while raising an eyebrow at her.

"Ummm, no."

"Ohhh." Star paused, thinking intently. Or maybe just trying to put a full sentence together in her concussed brain. "Well, how about monopoly?

"That could work!"

"To the death version!"

"Ughhhhhhh….."

**Thank you again for reading! Sorry, this wasn't my best chapter! I haven't been as motivated recently but I am back guys! Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed! Also, can we talk about how Flags is the most violent game ever?! Anyway, wanted to keep this as non-violent as possible. Thanks again for reading and see you guys again soon! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome back, dear readers! Thank you again for all your reviews! Please continue to critic and let me know what you think! Thank you for following, favoriting, commenting, and reading! I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or anything related to this wonderful show. Enjoy this next chapter! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your constant encouragement! I really appreciate it! **

**SugarQueen97: Thank you so much! Also, you're right. It doesn't matter how long it after magic is gone, it will still be hard on them for sure! **

**Sugar: Haha yes Star tends to have a more violent side doesn't she? Thanks for your encouragement! **

**Chapter 8: Heat Wave **

Snow. _I hate snow…_Glancing around himself, Tom burrowed deeper into his scarf, hiding his face from the bitter cold. That was one thing that had really tanked since Earth and Mewni merged-the cold. Who knew merging two dimensions would stop Earth's global warming crisis? Tom noted the strings of lights and snow-dusted trees. Earthlings were celebrating some holiday called X-lax or something while the Mewmans stayed true to the Stump. A menagerie of holiday decorations sprinkled around Earthni as the peoples that lived there busied themselves with last minute shopping.

Walking past store after store, Tom kept fire tickling his hands to keep them warm. _This is the worst! _The fire was just a tease-would he ever be warm again? Looking to his left, he spotted a bunch of trees for sale. In the middle of it stood-"Marco?" Jogging over to his friend, he noticed Marco waving after a couple who were walking away carrying a small tree with them before releasing he was there.

"Hey Tom! What's up? Isn't this weather crazy? It has never snowed here before!"

"Dude, what are you doing?"

Marco rubbed the back of his head with his gloved hand and laughed awkwardly. "Oh, you know-building back up my bulging biceps." Tom stared at him blankly which Marco laughed and gestured around him. "it's almost Christmas and Star's birthday so I realized I had to get two presents! My royalty checks for Princess Turdina have been going into savings for a car and college. So…yeah. I got a job."

Staring incredulously at his friend, Tom paused. "A job. Like, for money?"

"Yeah, Tom. That's what non-royal people do for money."

"Ohhh, so that's how it works!"

Ignoring Marco rolling his eyes, Tom looked around and gestured toward the trees. "So, you sell trees for people to make their own stumps?" Marco shook his head rapidly, looking confused at his friend.

"What, no! It's Christmas. I'm selling Christmas trees for people to put their presents under." Marco noticed a monster couple walking up to the shop and waved goodbye at Tom. "Oh, gotta go! See ya later, Tom. Have a good time in school tomorrow. Man, I'm soooo glad I got my GED!" Racing off, Marco struck up a big smile to smooze the couple. Tom shook his head thoughtfully. _And I'm back to remembering it is cold again. _He glanced at the tree next to him, taking a limb in his hand and accidentally scorching it. Quickly, he beat out the fire and slowly walked away. Definitely not up to Stump Day standards!

"They hide presents under the tree and not people? That just doesn't make sense!" Shaking his head, he continued to walk toward more stores in hopes to find something warm. Snow began to fall harder around Tom, which caused him to shiver. _No, not this again! _Taking a deep breath, he engulfed himself in flames for an instant before quenching it. It was harder to do when he wasn't angry. Being annoyed only sparked flames, but nothing compared to…Snapping his fingers, Tom dashed toward the mall. Getting angry! That was the answer to staying warm! And nothing made him angrier than annoying indecisive shoppers.

Tom raced toward the mall, creating steam behind him as snow began to melt. Finally, after racing around ten blocks, he finally found the strip mall-and better yet, Star and Janna walking out of a store. _Perfect. Shopping, my ex-girlfriend who is one of my best friends, and that one weird chick who creeps me out. This just keeps getting better and better! _

"Seriously Janna, why did you buy all this…stuff?" Star asked as she poked the bag Janna was holding. The bag jostled and moved as if something was inside, making Star swipe away her finger in fear and gulp. "Eep!"

"Obviously, you don't have the eye of an artist." Janna rolled her eyes and stuffed her shopping bag into her backpack. It began to jostle more so she punched it and zipped it up quickly. "Now-what to next? There is a Krampus exhibit over at-"

"Star! And…Janna…Hey guys!" Tom dashed over to his friends. Well, he guessed Janna was a friend-that girl sometimes gave him the hibby jibes.

"Hey Tom!" Star dragged Janna with her, plopping her right next to him. "We are doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. Did you know Stump Day is, like, nice here?! And some fat guy breaks into your house but doesn't steal stuff? He leaves presents! And…Uhh, Janna? What are you…"

Noticing Star staring behind his head, he looked at his ex in confusion. Where did Janna-"AHHH!" Glancing to his left, he noticed the quirky girl standing right behind him, her nose to his neck. "Janna, what are you doing?" Her breath tickled his neck, causing him to shutter and take a step away from her. Heat radiated off his body, causing all the ice to melt in a perfect circle around him. Janna stood so close, all the snow melted off her clothes as well.

"I'm standing by my friend. Isn't that what friends do?" Janna asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest.

Star and Tom caught each other's eye before glancing back at their friend. "Uhhh, maybe in Weirdoville!" Star shook her head at her friend, then glanced at her watch. "Oh, corn! I'm going to be late for Meteora's first sword fighting lesson! Come on, Janna! Bye, Tom!" Shaking her hand vehemently at him, Star grabbed Janna by the wrist and dragged her away. Janna had a peculiar look on her face as she let Star drag her away.

With a sigh, Tom growled and realized it was time to go home. He STILL wasn't warm enough, despite the weird feeling in his stomach after Janna stood so close to him…He continued to walk down the street, wondering where Weirdoville was. _Well, guess there is nothing to do up here. Why is everything so boring? And COLD? _Grumbling under his breath, Tom began to make his way home. He noticed a tunnel going down to the Underworld. Finally! But just as he was about to enter the tunnel…

SMACK!

The ground suddenly rushed at Tom's face, which he hit with a whack. Glancing up, he noticed a shadowy figure standing near him with a leg sticking out. "OWW! Janna? What are you doing here?!" Picking himself up, Tom glared (which is quite impressive with three eyes) at the small teenage girl. Janna took a step closer to Tom, causing him to back into the handrail that lead down to the Underworld. "Uhh, why are you standing so close?"

"Why did you walk into my leg I was resting?" Janna stared blankly back at him, her hands crossed over her chest. Irritation pricked at the young prince-but if Brian his life coach had taught him anything, it was to walk away.

"Whaaaatever. See you tomorrow at school." Before she could put some spell on him or something else weird, (even with magic destroyed, he still wasn't sure what Janna was capable of) he dashed toward his home. Without stopping, Tom raced down the third rail (that warmed him up quite nicely. Humans really should try it!) Finally, after what seemed like ages, he saw his castle nestled into the rock wall of the subway. Dashing inside, he vaguely recalled waving at his parents before racing up to his room and slamming the door shut. Taking a sigh of relief, he pressed his forehead against the door and sighed in relief. Slowly, he turned toward his room, ready to flop onto his bed. "Finally. It's warm-AHHHHH! JANNA?!"

Propped on the foot of his bed, Janna was clicking away at a videogame control, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. Her eyes scrunched in concentration. "Oh, hey. Your butler let me in." Not taking her eyes off the game, she grabbed a can of demon soda from the floor and sipped it and smacking her lips in satisfaction once she was finished. "Nice digs you got here, Tommy Boy."

Tom's mind went blank. What the heck? How did she get in here? Oh, when he found that butler…"Janna! What are you doing here? Are you-are you following me?"

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Janna finally turned her gaze to him, an eyebrow jetting up into her bangs. "I was just wanting to see if you wanted to go ice fishing. You seem to melt the snow wherever you are so we won't have to cut a hole or anything. We can see if we can lure kappas and feed them sausage." The game flashed red and read GAME OVER, causing Janna to groan in frustration. "Dang it, you made me lose my concentration!"

Trying to wrap his head around what she was saying, Tom narrowed his eyes at her. "Janna-look. I'm kinda busy and it's cold, so I'm just going to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow. Please go home!" Janna shrugged her shoulders, a nonchalant look on her face.

"Okay. Guess I'll go ice fishing with someone else." Hoping off the bed, Janna sashayed out of his room. After the door closed behind her, Tom checked his bed for cameras and bugs before assessing he was bug free. With a sigh of relief, he snuggled under the bed for a good night's warm sleep.

The next day, Tom arrived to school. Still cold. Glancing around himself, he saw the other high schoolers walking in as well. How Star had talking him into going to high school with her, he would never know. Tom noticed Star jumping off Marco's bike, giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek and dashing inside to escape the cold. Marco waved at Tom, shouted something about seeing him later, and pedaled off to who knows where. Probably that mythical job he keeps talking about. _Man, Marco has it made. It's probably warm at a job. _Tom quickly got out his compact mirror and opened it to make a reminder. "Find out how to get GED." Tom muttered under his breath as he typed out the message. "Aaaand, Save!" Just as he closed the mirror, he looked up to find Janna standing nose to nose with him. "AHHH!"

"Hey Tom. What to go ice fishing for kappas after class?" Tom jerked back, frowning at her.

"Are you stalking me?!"

"How do you know you are not stalking me? You've shown up everywhere I go."

Shuddering, Tom dashed away, grateful that Stump Day holiday was coming soon and he could be away from this crazy people. And school. And the cold. Monsters, Mewmans, and humans all wandered to their classes, taking a seat. Though everyone still sat in their own species groups, at least everyone was in the same class. Glancing behind him, Tom noticed Janna slip in and sit at the back of the room.

The rest of the day followed in a similar fashion. Tom noticed Janna sitting near him almost every class-and he was pretty sure they didn't have all these classes together. Finally, after sixth period, Tom whirled around to the girl. "Why? Why? Why are you following me?" He burst into flames but quickly tamed them, feeling embarrassed. Other students walking to their lockers were watching him with concern and curiosity on their faces. Lowering his voice, he glared at the girl with his three eyes. Janna didn't seem the least perturbed.

"I'm not following you. I am in most of those classes with you-though I did skip Trig to sit through your Algebra class. I forgot the basics of math that semester on Mewni."

Tom shook his head, staring at her in confusion. "Seriously? You stand too close to me at the mall, then follow me to my house, and now you skip classes to be near me?!"

"Loud…" Janna crossed her arms across her chest and began to walk away. "Seriously, can't a girl get a little bit of heat around here? It's freezing!" She walked away, shouldering her backpack as she went to her last period of the day. Tom stood there staring after her, his mouth hanging open. _Seriously? Am I her personal heater?!_

"You okay, Tom?" A voice drew him back into reality. Blinking to focus, Tom noticed Star standing to his left, looking at him dubiously.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm okay. Just-Janna followed me to my house yesterday and has been around me all day and just insinuated I was her personal heater!"

"Maybe she just thinks you're hot." Star stated nonchalantly, tossing a hand over her shoulder as she began to walk toward class. "Well, don't want to be late. I already have 27 tardies in Earthni History." She walked away and Tom stared after her in confusion.

"She thinks I'm hot?" He felt a weird fluttering in his gut but shook his head, chasing after Star. "Wait! Star! What do you mean? Like, because demon-fire hot or like, hot-hot? Star?

Star! What do you mean hot?!"

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I honestly love Tom and Janna's dynamic. I never really saw them as romantic but it is always fun to insinuate. I think they would be a good match personally! (Side note-NEVER walk on the third rail! Safety tip of the day!) Also, like Tom and Janna-I hate the cold. If it is below 60 degrees, I am not a happy camper. This is almost a metaphor for me seeking warmth in the winter. Thank you again for reading and please comment and critic and continue reading my stories! I really appreciate every one of you! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome back guys! Hope you have enjoyed these past couple of chapters for the stories! We are already a third of the way through! Also, I changed the name of the story because it isn't just Star and Marco stories-it is everyone. Though the focus is more on them than anyone else. Anyway, thank you again for continuing to read, comment, critic, follow, and favorite the story. Please let me know what you think and enjoy this chapter! **

**Chapter 9: Innocent **

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Marco-look at these cute, itty-bitty-baby shooooooooes!" Marco jerked back as a pair of pink sparkly shoes were thrust under his nose. He glanced over at Star with a small smile on his face. This. This is why he loved the mother of his future child. "Can you believe we are going to be PARENTS? Like-I'm not even grown up!"

Chuckling, Marco shook his head at his wife. "Star, we've been married over two years-isn't that grown up? Plus-if I recall, you passed the Bar Exam. You're officially a lawyer!"

"Yeah, whatever, Marco. Don't ruin the moment. Wait-THEY HAVE A LITTLE ONESIE WITH A NARWHAL ON IT! Marco, we HAVE to get it!" Star snatched up the onesie and thrust it in the cart with a satisfied smirk. "Alright, what next is on the list, Daddy?"

Marco shuttered and glanced at his wife. "Uhh, that has a whole new level of weird when you call me that, Star." Looking down at his list, he began checking off the things they already had or would ask for when they announced their pregnancy. "All we need is a baby blanket for my mom and dad and we should be all set. Wow. My parents will be grandparents…And we are about to be parents…Okay, I need to sit down." He placed his hands on his knees and began to breath quickly in and out of his mouth. Gently grabbing one of his hands, Star took her husband over to a nearby bench and sat him down.

While rubbing soothing circles on his back, Star began to cheer him up. "Hey, it's okay. No need to freak out. Yeah, we're going to be parents, but hey-we still have tons of things to look forward to with the pregnancy." Noting his breathing was slowing down, Star continued on. "How about we just take this one step at a time. I'm only ten weeks along-we have tons of time. Plus, I still have to go through all the steps with Pregnancy Mewberty-"

"WHAT?"

"Relax, Marco! It's natural. And honestly, since magic is gone, I'm not really sure what that will look like. Probably won't go all butterfly form and trap babies with purple goo."

"Wow. That's encouraging." Marco rolled his eyes but had a slight smile on his face. Star could cheer him up even when she wasn't trying. "So, because you're Mewman and I'm human, do you think that will mess up the baby?"

Star looked into the distance, not really looking at anything. She didn't answer automatically like usual. His heart quickening, Marco began to breath heavily again. "Oh gosh, you think that will mess up the baby? Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh!"

Star quickly placed a hand over his and looked back at him. "Oh, I'm so sorry Marco! My stomach just was hurting pretty badly and I needed a second. I didn't mean to scare you! Nah, our baby will be AMAZING!" Marco gave her a weary smile back and nodded in relief. Taking a deep breath, he got back out his list.

"Well, just three more weeks and we can finally tell everyone. We just got to get that baby blanket for mom and dad so we can monogram it with Abuelo and Abuela." He quickly stood up, noticing Star grimacing. "More morning sickness?"

Shaking her head, Star smiled at him tentatively. "I don't think so. It is probably that breakfast burrito. Ohh, that reminds me-let's get a beef burrito with vanilla ice cream on top before we go. You go ahead and pay-Mama's got to get herself a burrito!"

"And so the cravings continue." Marco laughed as Star began to walk toward the restaurant in the front as he found the blanket section. Smiling to himself, he couldn't wait to see his parents' faces when they told them about being pregnant. Thinking back to how Star told him, he knew that the smaller the better. Star was "freaking" out about if she had passed the Bar Exam or not. She had the letter in her hand and just couldn't read it herself. _You read it! I can't! _Marco had reassured her she had passed but opened the letter anyway, which read-"Congrats! We are pleased to inform you that you have officially become a dad!" Marco had stared at the letter for over thirty seconds before looking back at Star with confusion on his face. _I think they sent you the wrong letter. _Star still hadn't let Marco live that down.

"Hello, Earthni to Marcooooo?" Suddenly, Star's voice jerked Marco back into reality. Star was standing before him with a dill pickle and a cinnamon roll. She stuck the pickle into the roll and began tearing into it like a hyena. Marco resisted the urge to gag-cravings started a lot earlier that he thought they would. But then again, Star did rush everything. With her mouth full of her 'treat,' Star continued on while they walked. "So, I was thinking-remember that time your mom had that kid washing party for Mariposa? WE should have one too! Though, to be clear-we don't bath our baby in front of people?"

Rubbing his temples, Marco closed his eyes and counted to three. She sometimes got touchy when he laughed at her innocence. How did Star still not get Earth traditions after living on Earthni for so long? "It's a baby shower. To shower the baby with gifts."

"Yeah… I still don't get it."

Suppressing the urge to laugh, Marco merely smiled and grabbed her hand with one hand and directed the cart with the other. "Come one, let's go buy some paint for the baby's room. I was thinking-Plum. It's gender neutral. It's modern. It's got spirit. And when they are old enough, they can pick out-"

"OOOOOWWWWW" Star quickly grabbed her stomach and fell to her knees. Adrenaline flooded Marco's whole body. His heart was beating out of his chest, his eyes dilated.

"Star! STAR! What's going on? You okay?"

Pain racked her face but the former princess merely nodded her head. "I guess it is just a really bad case of morning sickness. OOOOWWW" She scrunched up her face in pain and bit her lip. "Okay, actually Marco, something might be wrong. Could you-"

Without hesitation, Marco scooped up his wife and dashed toward their car. The next hour was a blur to the couple as they reached the hospital and Star was rushed to the emergency room. Marco held her hand as the doctor began to examine her. She was feeling better but still couldn't fully sit up due to pain in her abdomen. She had joked with Marco about feeling silly if it was just a bad case of Mewberty gas or something strange like that. Marco gave her watery smiles but he couldn't hold it long on his lips. Star was so innocent…

After a series of tests, the doctor finally came into the room. His face was a blank slate. "So am I all ready to go home, Doc?" Star chuckled but the laugh slowly died as the doctor's face turned into a frown. "Is…is everything alright? Is my baby okay?"

The doctor slowly pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the couple. Marco felt his heart break. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be. "I'm sorry Mrs. Butterfly. But your baby…you had a miscarriage. I'm so sorry for your loss." He caught Marco's eye, who felt as if his world was crumbling. But he couldn't imagine what Star was feeling. Marco looked over at Star, who had a blank face. Her eyes were large, her jaw slack. Biting his lip, he looked back at the doctor and blinked rapidly to keep back tears. The doctor looked between the two before continuing on. "We still have to do a couple of procedures to ensure your safety and make sure your system is clear. I will be back in a few minutes."

The rest of the day seemed to go in slow motion while also at hyper speed. Star hadn't said a word the time. Marco talked with the doctors who came in and out of the room, running tests and helping Star with things that needed to be done to ensure she was healthy. His heart was aching for his wife and himself-and that innocent little baby of theirs. Finally after a few hours, the couple were cleared to go home.

The car ride back was silent. Star's expression still hadn't changed. Marco kept opening his mouth to say something-but nothing came out. After what seemed like hours, the two pulled into their home near the Monster Temple. Turning off the engine, Marco turned to face Star. She still had the same blank look on her face since she had received the news. "Star?" He paused, not expecting a reaction. "Hey Star? Do you need help inside?"

Without responding, Star just undid her seatbelt and got out of the car gingerly. She slowly walked toward the house, opened the door and dragged herself inside. Marco took a deep breath to calm himself before getting out and following her in. The sight that greeted him almost broke his heart. Star stood there, staring at the box of toys that had been delivered that they hadn't put away yet. She slowly reached down and picked up a blue stuffed rabbit, twisting one of its ears in her fingers. Slowly, her face began to contort. "Star…"

Suddenly, Star feel to her knees, tears rushing down her face as sobs escaped her mouth. Fighting back tears himself, he rushed to her, wrapped his arms around her back, and cradled her into himself as he fell onto the floor. Star pressed her body into his chest, cradling the rabbit into her own. "This is so unfair! Our baby! So innocent-and he just-is gone!" Marco allowed tears to fall from his face as well. Pressing his face into her hair, Marco gave her head a soft kiss in comfort.

"I know." He whispered into her hair. "I know." Taking a shaky breath, he realized that words couldn't comfort her but he wanted to try. "This is so hard-" He voice caught but he allowed himself to cry with her. "We both wanted this baby so badly and there isn't any right answers. But we are in this together, Star. I'm so sorry. I love you." Marco felt Star's breathing slow, her sobs turning into soft shudders. Tears still poured down both of their faces. Marco thought he heard her mumbling she was sorry over and over. "Shhh. Not Star, its okay. Just cry. I'm right here. I'm right here."

** So a bit different from the usual chapters I write-not as happy and whimsical as usual. But this is a series of stories about life for the pair after Cleaved. This happens. This has happened to people I love and I felt compelled to write it. We have already seen they had another baby a few years after this in Chapter 5, but I wanted people to see that sometimes you get hurt but there are people who love you and will help you move on-and things will get better. It just takes time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you again for reading! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again fellow Star vs the Forces of Evil lovers! I know. I know. It's been over a month! Sorry about that-I just moved and started a new job and have been traveling like crazy! Thanks for tuning back in! Now I know the last chapter was pretty heavy but it was something that many people have gone through. It felt more real to me. Anyway, this chapter is quite a bit more light-hearted. Anyway, enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

**Chapter 10: Just Friends **

"Whoa, watch out there, Diaz!" The voice of Jackie Lynn Thomas called out as she skidded to a halt. Flustered, the said Marco Diaz leapt back as the skateboarder swerved out of his way. Unfortunately, Star wasn't as suave as his ex-girlfriend. WHAM! "Ohh, Star! I'm so sorry!"

Laying dazed on the sidewalk, Star looked up at the skater-girl in confusion before accepting a helping-hand with a thankful smile. "Sorry Jackie! Didn't see you there! Man, I gotta start paying more attention to my surroundings." With a shake of her head, she glanced over at her boyfriend.

"More attention? When did you every pay any attention at all?" Jabbing Marco in the ribs (and with a satisfied smirk hearing Marco grunt in pain) Star turned toward their mermaid-like friend. "Hi Jackie! Sorry about that-I was just meeting Marco after his karate class with all his kiddos! He is teaching the first Monster-Mewman-Human karate class! So what are you up to? Just skateboardin'?" Star mimicked cruising on a skateboard while waving her hands like an Egyptian mummy. With a laugh, Jackie shook her head.

"Actually, I am going to get things ready for a surprise party for Chloe! She is coming back from France today." Sighing, Jackie shook her head. "I haven't seen her in six months." Marco and Star shot each other a quick glance at one another. Jackie was usually so calm, cool, and collected. Seeing her sad was just…unnatural.

Trying to make light of the situation, Marco puffed up his cheeks and blew out hot air. "Wow. Six months. That's…haha…that just stinks." He glanced at Star, who patted Jackie on the arm. Six months without Star would have been torture. He didn't even want to imagine.

Smiling thankfully at Star, Jackie shook her head. "Nah, it was fine. Good news-she's coming to stay for senior year at Echo Creek…though she is officially staying with Janna..."

"May the Stump rest her soul." Star nodded in condolence, then brightened quickly. "So a party! Do you need any help? My best friend, who is a flying pony head, is like-the best party planner EVER!"

"Haha, yeah Star. I know who Ponyhead is." Jackie smirked but paused to look at the young couple. "But you know…I could use some help getting things set up."

"Totally, totally, totally!"

Suddenly, without any warning, Star swore loudly. Everyone on the street turned to their direction. Marco, blushing profusely, clamped a hand over his girlfriend's mouth. "STAR!" He hissed. "Remember when we talked about being polite on Earth?"

"Yeah, I know. It is rude on Mewni too! I just forgot I have to go to our weekly dinner with Eclipsa. Mom would FREAK if I skipped…Again…" Turning toward Jackie, Star clasped her hands together seeking forgiveness. "I'm soooooo sorry, Jackie. I can't help out…But maybe Maaaarco can." Raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend, Star had a quirky smirk. The moment he saw that smile, Marco knew he had no choice but to hang one on one with Jackie.

Jackie tucked some hair behind her ear and gave a small smile in his direction. "Yeah, that would be great. Think you can handle party detail, Diaz?"

Glancing at Star with narrowed eyes, Marco turned toward his former girlfriend with open hands. "Sir Marco is at your service, milady."

"Marco, you have got to stop calling women maladies. It is so ancient Mewman." Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, Star waved goodbye to the pair and dashed off in the direction of the Monster Temple. Turning toward Jackie, Marco began to rock back and forward on his feet, hands swinging on his sides. "So…it's been a while."

"Yeah, sure has."

The two teens both smiled awkwardly at each other. Though they have reminded friends and really got along, since their breakup two years earlier the pair had not been alone together. Like-at all.

As always, Jackie remained cool under the tension. "Alright, Marco. First things first." She whipped out her cell phone and dialed the number 1. "Hey, it's me. I'm on Riverside-oh, great. Thanks." She hung up and smiled at Marco. "Okay, so once they get here, we can go to get everything we need. First let's check out-"

SHREEEEECH! A van whipped around the corner three blocks down, dashing toward the pair. Marco yelped and leapt toward the building behind him, pulling Jackie with him. Suddenly, the van screeched to a halt right in front of them. The side door flung up, revealing-

"Yo, Jackie! Here is your order." The werewolf-looking man smiled out from behind the wheel. "Hey Marco! Good to see you made things work with Jackie!"

"What?! No! I'm with-"

"Here ya go!" Ignoring Marco, he handed a helmet and skateboard with stickers of Love Sentence decorating the sides.

Taking them from him, Jackie smiled at the man. "Thanks again. Put it on my tab!" Without ceremony, the van door slammed shut and drove off, tires squealing as he peeled out. She turned to Marco, a smile on her face. "Here! Since your last board got broken during the Love Sentence concert." A peculiar look entered her face but she quickly shook it off and smiled at him. "This'll make it easier to get around town with." Pausing to adjust her helmet, she smiled at him. "Alright, let's get going!"

Wordlessly, Marco took the board. He opened his mouth to say thanks, but Jackie was already skating down the sidewalk. "Oh, okay. Didn't realize we are going now!" Slapping the board onto the ground with a clank, Marco raced after Jackie. After a few blocks, he finally caught up with her. "Whoa. I forgot how hard skateboarding is!"

"Skateboarding isn't hard, Marco. It just is."

"Hehe…right. So, what all do we need for this party?"

Jackie paused, slowly her speed to match his. Her hair whipped behind her, causing Marco to have a flashback to freshman year. So much had changed since then. All their good times, their dates-each coming back home to Star…Shaking his head, he realized Jackie had been talking to him. "And she likes vinyl records too. Indie rock. Mellow stuff. That's how we first got to know each other." She paused, glancing at him. "What do you think?"

"Hmmm. Well, first off, it has been six months. You gotta think big. We could do a circus theme. Everyone wear costumes. Have Ferguson dress up as an elephant or lion. We could buy ropes and create a trapeze on the roof. Or-or-or-we could-"

In a burst of laughter, Jackie skid to a stop, clutching her sides. Marco stopped too in confusion. "Uhhh, Jackie?"

"I forgot how funny you are, Marco Diaz! Star really is a lucky girl!" Wiping a tear from her eye, Jackie smiled at him. "Chloe likes simple. You obviously have been hanging out with Star too much-over the top."

"Over the big top you mean."

Jackie let out another chuckle but shook her head. "Come on. The party store is just a block away." She skated off, Marco slowly following after her. At least the tension was broken, even if it was still a bit awkward. The pair skated right up to the front door, popping their boards under their arms, and walked right on in with their helmets on. "Oh look! Balloons in French!"

"Qui Qui!" Marco laughed, taking a handful of strings while earning a chuckle from Jackie. "What next?"

"Ummm, plates. Cups. Napkins. Drinks. Cake. Nachos and tacos maybe? Nah…Oh, a banner with 'Welcome Chloe!' on it? There isn't enough time." Jackie began checking all the items listed on the aisles, counting off things on her fingers.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Marco smiled at her. "I'll grab paper products, you grab decorations. Meet you in 10 minutes at the register, okay?" With a quick nod, the pair separated, getting the things they needed for the party. As mentioned, 10 minutes later the two met at the register.

"Oh, shoot! I forgot my wallet!" Jackie felt her heart shrink, glancing in dismay at Marco.

"Don't worry! I still get my royalty checks for Princess Turdina!" Pulling out a roll of twenties, Marco slammed the money on the table. "How much for this? And please don't say-"

"$43.95."

"Oh, I was expecting it to be-Never mind. Thanks!" Marco grabbed his change as Jackie grabbed the bags. "Okay, where to next?"

Punching him lightly in the arm, Jackie smiled. "Hey, thank you Marco. I'll pay you back."

"HEY! HEY WAIT!" The cashier called after them, waving his hands with a bag full of plates and forks. "Your girlfriend forgot a bag!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! She's not my girlfriend. We are just friends."

"Whatever." The cashier walked back into the store, shrugging his shoulders. Marco felt his face grow warm as he glanced at Jackie. "Hmm. Yeah. Well…where to next?"

Keeping a straight face (though obviously fighting the urge to burst out laughing) Jackie merely shook her head and gestured for him to follow her. The rest of the afternoon flew by. At each store, Marco helped pay. And at each store, he had to exclaim that she wasn't his girlfriend.

"You two are the cutest couple."

"You've got a keeper there, Miss."

"How did a guy like you end up with a girl like her?"

"There is a two for one special for cupcakes." Okay, maybe the last one was a stretch, but Marco had finally reached his turning point.

"She's not my girlfriend! I am dating someone else! Now can we just get our cupcakes and go?" Marco stood huffing angrily, Jackie's eyes wide and mouth pierced. Gingerly, she took the money out of Marco's pocket and placed it on the register, muttering, "Keep the change."

Face red as his hoodie, Marco followed her meekly out of the store. Jackie glanced at him, then finally burst out laughing. "Sorry! Sorry!" She gestured good naturedly with her hands up in defense. "I just know you, Marco. You get so uptight about things like this. Star would totally understand. Sure we used to date, but we are just friends." Glancing at her watch, she gasped and threw the box of cupcakes into her backpack. "We gotta go grab those vinyls and head to my house! She is almost here!"

The two dashed off to the record store, zipping in on their skateboards. Marco rounded around to face Jackie, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Okay, fan out! We need to find three records to give to her!" With a curt nod and a small smile, Jackie skated off to the end of the aisle, frantically searching through titles.

"This one?"

"No."

"This one?"

"Ehh, not her thing."

"What about this one?"

"Now that is just embarrassing, Marco."

The pair continued to go through the albums. Jackie cried in success as she found one and tucked it under her arm. Marco continued to show her different ones to see which worked best for Chloe. After going through over 30 titles, Marco found one Jackie agreed with. "Okay, do we really need one more?"

"I don't know, dude. Good things come in threes. What about-"

'It was no secret, the way that we feel. A love that's so pure, a love that's so real."

Marco and Jackie locked eyes with each other. The song over the speakers blasted loudly throughout the store. The world seemed to zero in on them, a smile slowly building on both of their faces. How the meaning of this song had changed for the both of them.

"And now we'll be-Just friends." Marco began to belt out the song. The other customers in the store glanced at them, eyebrows raising and smiles on their faces. "We will be just friends." Jackie joined in, her chill voice filled with a surprising raspy tone. "And now we'll be just friends. Be Juuuuuuuust Frieeeeeeeends!" The two began to dance around the store, time and schedule completely forgotten.

Marco had forgotten what it was like to be just friends with Jackie. He wasn't sure he ever was. But this-this felt like friendship. No constraints. No awkward feelings. Just having fun. Being just friends.

The two continued to sing and dance to the song, shimmying down the aisles, shaking their hips and shoulders to the beat. Once the song ended over the speakers, the pair smiled at one another. Suddenly, applause filled the room. Glancing around, Marco noticed the other customers smiling and nudging one another. "Oh, what it is to be young and in love."

With a sigh, Marco ignored the comment when he noticed Jackie holding another record in her hand. "Love Sentence? But I thought you said she only liked indie rock and chill music."

"Well, maybe I can introduce her to some mainstream, corporate cash-grab pop that my friends and I like." Jackie shrugged her shoulders, took the money from Marco's hand and paid. As the two began to skate toward her house, Marco saw a content look on her face.

"You glad Chloe is coming back?"

Shaking her head, Jackie smiled at him. "Of course I am. But I'm not smiling because of that. I am just happy that this awkwardness is over. We can be friends. True friends." Marco smiled back at her. That was exactly what he had been thinking at the store but didn't know how to put it into words.

"Yeah. Me too." Suddenly, the pair ended up in front of Jackie's house. "Whoa, okay. Let's go! How much longer do we have until Chloe gets here?"

"Not long!" Jackie grabbed her key and began to open the door, struggling with all the bags in her arms. "I'm not sure exactly how much time but-"

"SURPRISE!"

Marco and Jackie jumped back in surprise, throwing their bags behind them in fear. Suddenly, Jackie began to laugh and dashed inside. Inside was Chloe with a banner that said, "Surprise Jackie" over her head. Star, Tom, Janna, Ponyhead, Katrina, Ferguson, Alfonso, Chet, Sabrina, Brittany, and many other people from Echo Creek Academy were smiling, blowing noisemakers, and wearing party hats.

Chloe and Jackie embraced, hugging each other and swaying happily side to side. Dashing around the pair, Star ran up to Marco and placed a party hat on his head. "Surprise Marco!" She giggled at his face-his mouth was wide open and his eyes were scrunched in confusion.

"Star? But-I thought-oh, you played me."

Giggling again, Star placed a kiss on his cheek. "Sorry Marco but you cannot lie to save your life. We had to surprise Jackie. Chloe called Janna and well-asked for me. I needed you to distract her. Plus, we cannot have Janna planning a party now, can we?" The two glanced at her arranging candles on the cake in the shape of something horribly inappropriate. Laughing, they glanced at Chloe and Jackie beginning to mingle, arms linked together. "So, have a good day with Jackie?"

Marco thoughtfully paused and glanced at Star. "Yeah, I did. It's nice to be friends without awkward tension like you and Tom."

"Ehh, mostly without tension."

"Wait-what?!"

Suddenly, the sound of a ripping vinyl on a record player filled the room. Ponyhead as at the helm, scratching the Love Sentence record. The sound of 'Too Little Too Late' filled the room mixed with techno music. "Let's get this party STAAAAAARRRRTED!" Smiling, Marco pulled Star up to Chloe and Jackie and began to dance.

**Hope you enjoyed this light-hearted chapter. I realized I hadn't used Jackie at all yet and she is just such a chill, caring character-she deserved to have a party thrown in her honor. Anyway, please critic and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading, following, favoriting, and commenting on my stories. See you soon! (I shall be much better now that life is slowing down from the move!) Until next time! Thank you! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Ch. 11: Kidding Around **

**Thank you again for tuning back in to this fun menagerie of vignettes! I have really enjoyed writing them. We are almost halfway! Just a couple more and we will be halfway there. Wow. Anyway, just wanted to give a couple of shout-outs: **

**Sugar: Thank you so much for your wonderful comments. You have great insight and I really appreciate your ideas! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your constant encouragement and uplifting comments! I really appreciate you! **

**Anyway, back to the stories. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or anything about the show. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think! **

"Thank you so much, Meteora!" Star called while her four-year old son Tommy tackled her into a hug. "Oomph! Wow-you really are getting big, Tommy boy!" Laughing, the blond, tan-skinned boy dashed down the hall cackling evilly. The ex-princesses caught each other's eye and began to laugh nervously. That boy seemed to have inherited his Grandpa River's love of violent games. "Sooooo….Marco and I should be back by…ummm…"

Star glanced at her husband, who was putting the twins down into their play pen. Comet and Cassie (short for Cassiopeia) looked like the spitting image of Marco but with Star's eyes. The two toddlers blinked up at their aunt Mariposa. Mari smiled over at her sister-in-law and gave her a thumbs up. "No worries, Star! We got this! Don't we Cassie? We do! We sure do! We sure do!"

"And on that note, it's your cue to leave." Meteora rolled her eyes and began to push Star out the door. "We can take care of a pair of one-year old's and a four-year old. Literally-seniors in high school here!"

Grateful, Star threw her hands around Meteora's shoulders. Meteora stiffened but reluctantly patted her back on the shoulder. "Oh, thank you! Marco has been too nervous to leave the twins by themselves-but I mean-come on! It's been over a year since they were born. Safe Kid-more like Safe Overgrown Kid. Huh? Huh?!" The pair chuckled as Marco was lecturing his little sister on how to take care of her niece and nephews. Mari had a serious look on her face, nodding intently as Marco counted off things on his finger. Meteora and Star looked back at each other with amused but slightly annoyed raised eyebrows when Star cleared her throat.

"Oh, and one last thing!" Marco turned toward Meteora who narrowed her eyes at him. Marco had grown used to her withering looks so he just tightened his lips with a serious look. "We should be back by nine. It's just a party at Star's law firm. So please…Just-don't kill my kids, okay?"

"Wow. I'm insulted." Meteora blinked twice at him while keeping a blank face. Marco laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Meteora continued on. "Besides, we can take care of ourselves. Mari and I are practically grown up!"

Star nodded in understanding, much to Marco's annoyance. "We know you can! We remember in the Abs Dimension where-"

"Oops, what do you know. Time to get going!" Marco interrupted Star, waving at Meteora and Mari. "Los quiero a ambos, bebes!" He gave a quick kiss on the forehead to the twins and managed to ruffle Tommy's hair as he whizzed by, then kissed Mariposa on the forehead for good measure. "What, none for me?" Marco glanced at Meteora in confusion before realizing she was being sarcastic.

"He-um-yeah-right, let's go Star." Dashing past Meteora, he grabbed Star's hand as she waved goodbye to the kids.

"Love you! Be good for Auntie Mari and Auntie Meteora!" She blew a kiss as the door slammed shut behind her.

Catching each other's eye, Mari and Meteora burst into laughter, clutching their sides. "Oh man, your poor brother!"

"Abs dimension? In what dimension did my brother have abs?" Mariposa wheezed, her shoulders shaking from laughter. Wiping a tear from her eye, she began to calm down. "Man, you should stop messing with my brother. He really does try!" Catching Meteora's eye again, the two girls feel into another fit of giggles. Finally, they were able to calm down after a couple more minutes.

Meteora straightened up, feeling her stomach growl. "Okay, guess it's time to feed the-Oh no." Mari turned around and gasped as she took in what Meteora was looking at.

The living room looked like a tomato sauce tornado had torn through the house. Splashes of orange and red flung over the couch, the ceiling, the walls, and the carpet. Little orange smudges that looked suspiciously like handprints were lined up along the fireplace. Pillows and blankets were tossed haphazardly around the room and two chairs were turned on their sides.

"How in Earthni?" Meteora slowly walked over to pick up a pillow from the floor when a loud wail pierced her eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHH! MAAAAAAMAAAAA! PAAAAAAPAAAAA!"

Mari raced over to Comet, who had tears spilling down his face. She picked him up and began to rock back and forth on the balls of her feet, bouncing slightly to calm him down. "Is there an off button on this thing?" She glanced over at her best friend, who looked horrified. "Earthni to Meteora! What do we do?"

Meteora bit her lip. Man, they weren't kidding about babysitting being good birth control. "I don't know. They're your family! What do you usually do to calm them down?" Mari stared back blankly at her when Tommy zipped by singing his ABCs at the top of his lungs. "A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-I-NEED-TO-PEE!" He danced around the girls then took a blanket from the floor, flung in over himself to where he looked like a ghost, and ran away yelling "BOO!" He bonked into a wall, shook himself, then dashed through the doorway and up the stairs.

"MAMA! PAPA! I WANT MAMA!"

"Yeah, I want your Mama too, bud. Now-wait-WHERE'S CASSIE!" Mari almost dropped her nephew on his head and scooped him up before he fell down. "CASSIE?! CASSIE!"

Meteora frantically searched around herself, looking behind the couch and underneath the couches. She scrunched her nose. What would be so irresistible that Cassie had to come out? "I got this. Watch and learn, Earth Girl."

Mariposa rolled her eyes but followed Meteora into the kitchen. Meteora began to rummage in the drawers, grabbing things at random and throwing them on the table. Walking over the fridge, she threw it open and poked her head inside. Mari gently sat Comet onto the counter and caught everything the Meteora was throwing out behind her. "Umm, are you making nachos?" She looked at all the ingredients that were being placed on the table. Meteora grunted. "Why are you making nachos? Babies can't eat nachos!" Tommy ran screaming down the stairs again and fell on his face before dashing back up the stairs under his sheet. The girls ignored him, not noticing Cassie crawling up the stairs under a baby blanket like her brother. "And I'm not so sure that Tommy needs anything to eat-We need to find Cassie!"

Shutting the fridge, Meteora held five different types of cheese in her hands before laying it out on the table and clapping her hands together. "Well, your brother may be the biggest pain in the world-but he sure knows how to whip up some nachos. And nachos are irresistible. Plus, they have teeth-they can eat nachos! Watch!" Meteora handed a corn chip to Comet, who had taken a deep breath between screams. He eyed it wearily then hit it out of her hand and began to scream even louder.

"Wow. You really are the Baby Whisperer." Mari stated in a flat tone. Meteora stuck out her tongue at her and continued to mix the ingredients. Shaking her head, Mariposa began to look around herself. "As you keep being a bad babysitter, I'm gonna go do our job." Turning around, she raced out the back door to check outside.

The night was clear with the Mewman moons peeking out over the horizon. Scanning the ground, Mari shook her head and sighed. No Cassiopeia. After another quick glance, she headed back inside, not thinking to look up to spot a small child crawling along the ridgepole of the roof.

"Oh, you're just in time!" Meteora smiled while ignoring the screaming Comet next to her and flung a plate of nachos in front of the Latina girl. "Me-te-or-a's Super-Awesome-Na-chos!" She sang to her, causing Mari to raise an eyebrow.

"You know that is the same song my brother sings whenever he makes nachos, right?"

"Don't compare me to that trash."

With a chuckle and grabbing a chip, Mari continued on into the living room and up the stairs to see if she could find the toddler. "Cass? Cassie girl? You in here?" The doorbell rang, playing La Cucaracha. Star definitely picked that one out. "Hey Meteora, can you get that?" Mari called out, waving her hand at the bedroom door.

CRASH! "Uh-oh!" Tommy's voice was heard from the dining room. Obviously something else was broken. Another cry from Comet tore through the house, with a frustrated grunt from Meteora who had obviously just gotten him to quiet down. With a sigh, Mariposa just shook her head and continued to search around the room. The doorbell clanged again twice, causing her to frown. "Ugh-fine. I'll get it!" Turning on her heel, Mari rolled her eyes, not noticing the little girl snuggled underneath the crib under a blanket.

Mariposa skipped down the stairs two at a time, quickly turned the corner-and froze. Standing with the door wide open was Meteora gapping open mouthed at none other than Patrick Bull Muscles III Her eyes widened, matching Meteora's shocked face. Meteora on the other hand was in shock. Her heart was beating at two-hundred beats per minute, her mind was a blank slate. Patrick Bull Muscles III. Only the HOTTEST boy to ever go to Echo Mewman Creek Academy. He was a year older than the girls and never gave them the time of day in school. She still noticed him riding his motor bike to class at the local community college that was open to Monsters and Humans alike. Before either girl could say anything, he flashed a charismatic smile and leaned against the entryway. "Hey girl. Heard you were hanging out here tonight."

Blushing profusely, Meteora began to stutter. "Uh-he-yeah-Imma-hmm-nachos?" Inwardly, she groaned in despair. That was NOT how she was going to win him over. Thankfully, her best friend was behind her.

"Oh hey, Patrick." Mari dashed up to the door, wincing as Tommy and Comet both began screaming behind them while waging tug-of-war with a new toy. "So, what brought you to my brother's house tonight?"

"Uhh, I just said I heard Meteora was here."

"Yeah, Mari. He just said that!"

Rolling her eyes, Mari bit her tongue and let that one slide. Meteora turned back to him, crossing her arms and holding her face in her hand. "So, umm, what's up?"

Patrick puffed out his chest, his bull horns being thrust back as his head raised up. "Oh, just thought we could go out, you know, hit the town. My parents are out so we could-"

"Yeeeeeah, no. She is helping me babysit. She totally owes me for saving her butt from failing that Monster Anatomy Test!" Mari glanced behind her at the two boys yelling and the missing Cassie nowhere to be seen. Some towels in the laundry basket shuffled around and a little head popped out after Mari turned back around. "Plus, she is the Baby Whisperer."

"Um, no. I can go. You got this-right Mari?" Meteora gritted her teeth at her, eyes narrowing. She couldn't believe Mariposa was cooling her right now. Mari frowned and narrowed her eyes at her. Meteora felt her heart plunge into her stomach. She really did owe Mariposa for that test. "Ugh, fine." Turning back toward Patrick, Meteora nervously giggled and tipped her head to the side. "Hehe, sorry about that. I did promise. Maybe we could hang another time?"

Shrugging his shoulders indifferently, he turned around and waved his head. "Yeah, sorry. This was a one-time deal." He walked off toward his motorbike and hopped on. "There are other girls-I didn't think you would be so lame to miss out on all of this." He gestured to his body, causing Mariposa to roll her eyes. "Later." Meteora choked in protest and began to walk after him when Mari grabbed her wrist to hold her back. The bull-man reeved his engine, which barely puttered to life as smoke puffed out. He slowly backed up, then took off at 5 miles per hour down the street. Both girls watched as he crawled away on his bike.

Eyes flashing, Meteora turned toward Mariposa, flinging the door shut behind her. "Why did you do that?! You totally did that on purpose!"

Anger boiled up inside Mari as she turned toward her best friend. "That loser? Meteora, I'm sorry, but you can do so much better than him. Plus, you promised to help me! I can't handle-" She gestured behind herself at the fighting boys. "This! And frankly, you couldn't handle-" She exaggerated as she gestured up and down his body, imitating Patrick Bull Muscles III. Meteora snorted, crossing her arms and turning away from Mariposa.

"You always do this! You always hold me back and think only about the 'safe' choice or the 'right' choice! You NEVER think about what might be best for me!"

"What?! I always think about what is best for you! I just stop you from making dumb choices and being stupid!"

Instantly, Mariposa regretted her words. Meteora sucked in a breath, her eyes watering. "Wait-Meteora, I didn't mean-" But it was too late. Tears began to spill out of her best friend's eyes. The ex-princess slowly turned around and walked toward the tomato-devastated living room. She sank into the couch, bunching her knees to her chest and hiding her face in her hands. Though she was silent, her shaking shoulders said it all. "Meteora, I'm sorry. You're not stupid. I just-" Guilt filled Mariposa's chest like an anvil on her heart.

Suddenly, the laundry basket tipped over and Cassiopeia tumbled out, her head covered in her brother's clean swim trucks. She blinked rapidly at her crying "Auntie" Meteora. Quickly, she scrambled up and toddled over to the crying girl. She began to pat her hand, her eyes round and sympathetic. It took a moment for the two older girls to register Cassie's presence when Mari dashed over and scooped up the little girl.

"Oh you're sweet, Cassie girl! And safe! Have you been hiding in the laundry basket all night?!" She hugged the toddler tightly to her chest, which she happily responded in kind. Comet, not wanting to be left out, dashed up and tackled Mariposa's knee in a tight hold.

Meteora hiccupped but smiled at the two babies. She picked Comet up and hugged him to herself. He had finally stopped cry and was gently patting Meteora's face in comfort. She smiled at him then glanced at her best friend, giving her a watery smile. "Hey, thanks for looking out for me. I know you don't think I'm stupid. It just-sometimes you're a little over protective. And I am a bit of a risk taker."

Mari put Cassie down and walked over to her best friend. She threw her arms around her friend, holding her close. "And you help me take risks. Like with that cute girl in our 11th grade Chemistry class."

"Oh, yeah. You both had 'Chemistry' alright!"

With a chuckle and a gentle nudge, Mari released her friend with a smile. "Haha, right. But you help me become a better person and live life. That's why you're my best friend, Meteora. And I know that you are worth ten-thousand times more than Mr. Patrick Bull Muscles III. If he can't see how amazing you are and isn't willing to wait on you or serve you hand and foot-he's not worthy of you at all!"

Meteora smiled as she put Comet down too. He and his sister began to play on the ground, using a baby language mixed with English and gurgling baby talk. "I wonder what they are talking about…Anyway, thanks Mari. You're my best friend too. I'm sorry I tried to leave you here alone with the terror twins and Tommy Boy. So don't apologize. I know I can be a pain sometimes-plus I did promise to help babysit."

"Maybe when Star and Marco get back we can go cow tipping?"

Meteora blinked at Mari, gazing at her in confusion. It took her a second to realize she was talking about pranking Patrick or maybe calling him on his bull. Mari may not have the most understandable sense of humor-but she could be funny when she wanted to be. An evil smile split Meteora's lips. "Mariposa Diaz-you sly human you! I must be rubbing off on you." The two girls laughed as Tommy rushed in, clutching his stomach. With confusion, the two girls looked at the doorway in the kitchen to see the giant plate of nachos completely empty. "Oh no-Tommy-don't-"

"BLAAAAAAAAAAH"

With that note, the front door opened to reveal Star and Marco wearing party hats and Star walking unsteadily in her stiletto heels. Marco had a hand around her waist to keep her upright. Meteora and Mari glanced in horror at the couple, who looked around the room in confusion-though Star was taking in the sight of her children while Marco was trying not to laugh at the horror on his sister's face.

"Uhhhh…." Meteora and Mari glanced at each other, biting their lips at the mess. Suddenly, Star began to clap her hands and giggle. "You did an excellent job! You get a gold star and now I won't have to worry about a subpoena!" She giggled hard at that as Comet and Cassie dashed over to her and tackled her in a hug.

Marco glanced around the room, taking in the tomato stains, overturned furniture, and throw-up all over the floor and his oldest son. "Well, guess you did okay." He stated, giving a small smile to his sister and a head nod to Meteora. She huffed, crossing her arms at him. "At least my kids are still alive."

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to think from both Mari and Meteora's perspectives as they were pretty much Star and Marco's age, if not older, by the end of the series. Please let me know what you thought and any critiques you have as well. Thank you for reading! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry guys-I have had horrible writer's block lately. Between the holidays and no inspiration-it has been a dark time for writing. Hopefully you enjoy this light-hearted chapter. No worries-I have an idea for every chapter but was just having a hard time gaining motivation to write. Thank you again for reading, following, favoriting, and commenting on my series of short stories. I really appreciate it! Someone mentioned I should write about Star giving birth-well here we go! Enjoy the chapter! **

Chapter 12: Lance's New Polka-dot tie

"Okay, breathe. Breathe! In-and out. In-and out!" The calm voice soothed the stressed soon-to-be parent as they entered the hospital. Mariposa and Meteora were on either side, each holding an arm in support. "Breathe!"

Guiding them to a chair, the two girls sat on either side, gently rubbing their back in support. "There you go. In and out." Meteora peeked over their back and whispered to Mariposa, "Your brother is a total wimp. Seriously, you'd think he was the one in labor."

Sure enough, Marco was hyperventilating in the chair, freaking out about being a dad. How could Star be so cool about this? She was already carted off in a wheelchair into a private room while he was left behind to do paperwork. The parent-teacher conference was long forgotten about-luckily for Mariposa that is. Meteora grabbed a clipboard from the nurse and began to pencil it in. "Okay. Name?"

"…"

"Name?"

"…"

"You know my brother's name, Meteora."

"Oh, right. Earth Turd. Last name is spelled T-U-R-D, right?"

"METEORA!"

"Fine. Diaz. Marco Diaz."

The ex-princess stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth as she began to fill in the card, quietly asking her best friend for answers. Right when she finished, the lobby doors smashed open, revealing four distraught people. Marco jolted up, dashing toward his best friend. "You're welcome!" Meteora huffed but was ignored by everyone.

"Tom! Jackie! And…Janna and Ponyhead…Thanks for coming!" Marco paused, nervously laughing and shifting from foot to foot. Turning toward Tom and Jackie, he hugged them both. "I am SO glad you guys are here. Like-yeah-Star's-and I'm gonna-just-I can't-"

"Chickenbutt." Janna snapped her fingers and Marco promptly slammed onto the floor, out like a light. Everyone in the room jumped back, eyes wide. Eyes glinting, Meteora sprang up and dashed to Janna. "Whoa, you HAVE to teach me how to do that."

Janna patted the teenager on the head with a soft smile. "You couldn't handle it." Frowning, Meteora crossed her arms pouting as Mariposa laughed, nudging her best friend with her elbow. Tom threw an arm around his fiancée with a grin.

"Janna…"

"Ugh. Fine. You guys are no fun." Snapping her fingers, Marco jerked awake, eyes wild and hair sticking up in every direction.

"Whoa, wait. What year is it?" Shaking his head, he stood up and brushed himself off. "JANNA?! GET OUT OF TOWN! I'M HAVING A BABY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Suddenly, his eyes bulged and he started hyperventilating again. "Oh yeah. Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I'm having a baby. Right." Jackie came and patted him on his back, Mariposa slowly guided him to a chair to sit and stick his head between his knees.

"So a half-Mewman, half-human baby. Maybe it'll have two heads." Janna joked. Marco just groaned in response. "So, Marco. What are you going to name the little creature?"

Ponyhead floated over to the group, shutting her mirror with her tongue. "So, what is going on? Are we, like, naming the baby and stuff? I know you are naming it after me or whatever!" She flipped her mane and snorted in his face, her horn poking Marco in the throat. "It BETTER be Ponyhead Jr., Earth Turd."

Marco slowly looked up, noticing everyone jabbering at once. Mariposa and Jackie were discussing Star's paperwork, Meteor and Janna were arguing over how to hypnotize people, and Ponyhead was talking on her compact mirror again to her newest conquest of a boyfriend. "Dude, you okay?" A calm voice sounded next to his ear. Marco turned to see Tom sitting next to him with a concerned look in his eye. Tom patted Marco on the leg, a soft smile tugging on his lips. "Dude, you look horrible."

Smiling weakly, Marco glanced at his best friend. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just got to turn in the paperwork. Meteora, where is the-"

"Mr. Diaz-Butterfly?" A doctor in green scrubs came into the room. Everyone straightened up and raced over to the man. The man paled, noticing everyone hungrily staring at him for information. "Uhhh, which one of you is Mr. Diaz?"

"That'd be me." Marco's voice was two octaves higher than usual. He cleared his throat, ignoring Janna and Meteora snickering at him. "That'd be me. Is Star okay?"

The doctor blinked twice, glancing around awkwardly at everyone in the room. Nodding his head, he addressed Marco while staring nervously at Janna who was pulling out a voodoo doll shaped like a man with a miniature doctor's mask on. "Uhh, yes. She is fine, though she has been asking for you." He looked back at Marco, a stern look on his face. "Sir, I have to ask you-has your wife been taking performance enhancing drugs?" Wordlessly, Marco blinked and shook his head, no idea what the man was talking about. Frowning in disbelief, the doctor continued on. "Your wife began contractions than screamed for someone to bring you in and threw two large male nurses across the room whenever they came to restrain her."

Marco paused for two seconds than immediately burst out laughing. Everyone else joined in quickly, Tom wheezing with his hands on his knees, saying, "Performance enhancers. I cry." Wiping tears out of his eyes, Marco straightened up enough to pierce his lips in attempt to look serious. "No sir, my wife just has a strong disposition."

"I bet he says that in-"

"ANYWAY!" Marco cut off Janna quickly before continuing on. "Can I go see my wife?" The doctor shook his head, eyes narrowed. He merely handed him some more papers and a clipboard before walking back into the clinic. Frustration and anger flared up in Marco but he whirled around to face his friends. "Okay-here's the plan. Everyone fill out a page and give it to me! If you have any questions, just ask me or Mariposa!" Jackie gently took the papers from his fists (Marco did not recall ever balling up the papers) and began to hand them out to everyone. Mariposa began to boss everyone around, telling them what to write in each line that they didn't know.

Janna smirked as she got her paper, turning toward Marco with an evil grin. "Don't worry, Marco. I already have all your information on file." She whipped out something from her pocket and revealed his social security card. Groaning, Marco glanced at Tom to do something about it. Tom blew out his cheeks and turned his nose down into his paper. Coward…

At the other side of the room, Jackie and Ponyhead were filling out their papers. Jackie watched in wonder as Ponyhead read the paper in front of her. "SOOO…How do you write since you don't have hands?"

Tossing her mane and glaring at the professional skateboarder, Ponyhead narrowed her eyes at the woman. "That's just rude-that's like asking someone how they walk without legs."

"They don't…" Jackie murmured under her breath, glancing sideways awkwardly.

The group continued to fill out the paperwork when suddenly the doors smashed open. Marco desperately glanced up, knowing that both his parents and his in-laws were out of town but still his heart dropped in disappointment as he saw another man and what looked to be his father dash in. He had the same panicked look in his eyes. Catching his eye, he nodded in encouragement-they all had to deal with this ridiculous red tape at the hospital. He notice the man's father pull out two cigars and was wearing the ugliest tie he had ever seen in his life. Who wears a plaid tie over a decorative shirt? "Son-you're gonna be a father today. You need to look the part." He pulled out two ties just as ugly as his-one polka-dotted and one with mini bacon strips. Frowning, Marco caught Tom's eye. Tom looked absolutely disgusted by their fashion sense, his three eyes narrowing and tail twitching angrily side to side.

"Which tie should I wear? I can't pick a tie. This is too much. What if the tie I wear determines my whole future? What if my baby sees me in this tie and forever has a fear of dots or bacon? Which one? WHICH ONE?!" The man began to hyperventilate and collapsed on the floor in a heap. A nurse walking by just rolled her eyes and muttered someone else could deal with this.

The man's father rolls his eyes and walked up to his son. "Lance, get up, son." He grasped his son by the shoulder and heaved him upright into a chair. Noticing the audience, he caught Marco's eye. Marco paled but straightened up as he looked at the man. With a slight nod, he took the bacon design tie out of his son's hand and threw it at Marco. "Here ya go, Kid. Every father needs a tie and a cigar on the day of their child's birth. You look like a bum. What child wants to see their father looking like a chump." He turned back toward his son and began to put the polka-dotted tie around Lance's neck. "Just suck it up, son." He lit the cigar and stuffed it into Lance's mouth. Coughing, Lance woke with a jolt, pounding his chest while hacking away.

"Sir, you better put that out or I'm gonna put you out!" A nurse called from the delivery ward, glaring at him. The man puffed his chest than began to rant about how America was ruined by health-conscious cowards and politics. Everyone sort of awkwardly watched the situation as the nurse shook her head and beckoned for Marco to follow her. Marco's heart began to race as he slowly began toward the room. He glanced back at the weird scene of his friends and family with the strange man. Tom winked at him and gestured him away. Taking a deep breath, he turned and followed the nurse to Star's room.

The sound of screaming exploded around Marco as the doors opened. Star was leaning forward, her face red and hair plastered to her neck and face. "PUSH! PUSH! Good job, Star! You're getting close!" Star gasped in relief and pain at the same time, throwing herself back onto the bed. She turned her head toward Marco and her eyes flared in anger.

"WHERE IN THE NAME OF CORN HAVE YOU BEEN MARCO DIAZ-BUTTERFLY?!" Marco gulped in fear but walked toward his loving wife. She looked exhausted and wired at the same time, her eyes red and bulging. Suddenly, her face contorted and she grimaced in pain. "OWW, OWW, OWW! Never mind, hold my hand, Marco! I need you!"

With a heart leaping with anxiety, Marco dashed over to his wife and grasped her hand. Immediately, she began to crush it and Marco had to bite his lip to keep from yelping as Star continued to scream. "HOLY MOTHER OF GLOBGOR-GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT!"

"He's crowning! He's crowning!" The nurse began yelling as the doctor flew in. "Of course, I do all the work and you get all the credit." She murmured under her breath as he began to put on his gloves. The doctor came to stay at Star's feet and crouched down next to the nurse. "There he is! He's coming!"

Star let out one last guttural scream, squeezing Marco's fingers so tight they turned purple. With a gasp of relief, she fell back onto the bed in tears as a cry sounded out. "It's a boy! A healthy, baby boy!" Marco turned toward the sound of the crying and the moment he saw his son he never loved anything more in his entire life. The nurses in the room were cleaning him up but he could see small tuffs of blond hair poking out of the towels. Star sat up, tears in her eyes as she began to ask for her son.

"Let me see him. Let me see him." Marco felt tears running down his face but he didn't care. After the nurses began to finish cleaning him off, they walked him over to the happy couple. They placed him in Star's arms as she began to hum a Mewman lullaby to him. It was the most beautiful thing Marco had ever seen.

Marco sat at the edge of the bed near their heads and noticed the baby somehow open its eyes. They were a light blue but were obviously going to turn brown just like his. Star gave a watery laugh and smiled up at her husband. He smiled at her, placed a kiss on her forehead then placed a kiss on their son's head. She smiles up at him than gingerly handed their son to Marco. He gently took him into his arms and cradled his little head. "What should we call him?" Star murmured, wiping away tears from her eyes. Marco shook his head and merely smiled down at the baby in his hands. He didn't even notice the small frown forming on Star's face.

"What the heck are you wearing?!"

"It's a tie."

"Yeah, I can see that, Diaz. Why are you wearing it? Is that bacon?!"

"All dads want to look good for their kids. I don't want to look like a bum!"

"I hate it. And I can speak for baby-he hates it too."

Later, as Star was getting cleaned up and the baby had to go to the nursery, Marco was standing in front of the glass window watching his son being put into the crib. He heard everyone piling into the room and wondering which one was the baby.

"YES! It only has one head-you owe me ten bucks, Meteora!" Mariposa chimed.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Jackie squealed uncharacteristically. "I want to see my godson." Marco laughed and pointed him out to his friends.

"He's so wrinkly. I thought babies were supposed to be cute or whatever." Ponyhead huffed as she looked at the tiny baby.

"Ponyhead! You can't just go around telling people their babies are ugly! You do that behind their backs!" Janna chided the flying princess.

"Dude, what'd you name him?" Tom asked, smiling at his best friend. Marco smirked a knowing smile as he rounded toward his friend.

"Nothing special. His name is Thomas Miguel Diaz-Butterfly."

Instantly, Tom's three eyes began to water and burst into flames before quickly extinguishing it. With a high-pitched tone escaping his lips, he thrust his arms around Marco and began to sway back and forth. Marco equally matched his enthusiasm and hugged him back while fighting back tears.

Rolling her eyes, Janna crossed her arms. "Get a room."

Jackie smiled down at the baby boy, her eyes soft. "He's beautiful. He's a stud-just like his dad." Marco blushed awkwardly at the comment but smiled in thanks.

Ponyhead was taking a selfie with the baby in the background when she suddenly paused, an indigent look on her face. "Wait…You didn't name him after me?!"

**I hope you enjoyed this extremely delayed chapter! I wanted something light-hearted and funny because sometimes wholesome, sweet stories are just what we need. I would also love to hear what you think the next chapter names would be-we are almost halfway done with the stories! I'll try and write the stories at a regular pace again. Thank you again for reading, favoriting, and following my story! Please let me know what you think! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your encouragement! Hope you're still enjoying the chapters! **

**Sugar: So glad you loved it! They have such a fun friendship-they should make a whole sequel series just based off Meteora's and Mariposa's friendship. I also pictured Meteora being boy-crazy (like she was with Rasticore) and Mariposa as the level-headed one. I just loved writing about their kids. Hope you keep enjoying the chapters! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, fellow Star vs the Forces of Evil lovers. Thank you again for reading my stories! We are literally halfway through the series-wow, it is crazy to think about. I had a completely different idea for this letter but realized with it being Christmas-a festive story was in order. Anyway, thank you again for reading, commenting, following, and favoriting my story. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

Chapter 13: Merry Christmas, Star

"Why is this so hard? This is impossible!" Star groaned as she threw down her oven mitt and crossed her arms angrily. "Why do they not just make pies like regular Mewmans?! Ugh. I miss magic." She glared down at the burnt cookies sitting on the steaming sheet. Each one used to be a specific shape but now they all resembled ant mounds made of ash. "Well, at least we still have-DAD!"

As she turned, she noticed River's mouth and beard smeared with green icing. He had a guilty look on his face as he hid something behind his back. "What is it, my dear?"

"Dad. You ate the icing…Again."

"I would never-I was king once you know."

"And now you're filthy." Moon waltzed into the kitchen, apron tied around her waist. Star awkwardly shifted from side to side, glancing bashfully at her mom. She hadn't invited her to the first ever Earthni Christmas Cookie Palooza Bake Sale at Echo Creek Academy and yet she insisted on coming to make cookies anyway. It had been an awkward few months since the Merge. Though she tried-she really did!-she just couldn't connect with her mom like she used to. Even when it came to baking pies-or this case, cookies. Moon assessed the state of the kitchen as she addressed her husband. "River, go wash yourself up. I will see you at home."

Slowly backing up, River kept hiding his tub of icing behind his back. "Right then. Tally-ho! Or, what do these Earth people call it-Merry Christ-munch. Or is it X-Lax?" With an awkward bow, he dashed backward into the door post, inched a few steps to the left, then dashed out of the kitchen. Shaking her head, Moon glanced down at the heaps of cookie ashes.

"Star, what are those?" Shrugging, Star turned back toward the cookies. She quickly began grabbing the ingredients for the cookies and placing them on the table. What she didn't notice was Moon biting her lip and taking a deep breath before picking up some flour, butter, sugar, and a bowl to mix them in . "So. What is this Christ-max holiday about again? I don't quite understand how it is different than Stump Day." Star rolled her eyes at her mother's ignorance of the Earth holiday.

Grabbing some flour and dumping it into some sugar and butter, she began to beat it with her rolling pin as she spoke, ignoring her mother's raised eyebrow at her mixing method. "Marco says it is a special holiday that comes once a year where the local people worship a jolly deity named Claus who sneaks into their houses but delivers presents underneath fully intact trees-not stumps. Oh, and something about some baby and a magic star and some magic flying deer. It kind of gets confusing."

Frowning slightly and mouthing "Jolly Deity?", Moon took her own ingredients and began to mix them into her bowl. Taking a deep breath, she eyed her ingredients while she began to speak. "Star, I wanted to take some time to…well, spend time with you. I'm sure you've noticed that despite our best efforts, we have not been exactly successful in restoring our relationship from my past…transgressions."

Star bit her lip to keep quiet, throwing in eggs and kneading them into the dough, shell and all. _Wow, Mom. Just get right to the point, as always. _"Star, are you listening to me?" Shaking her head vigorously, she continued to throw in red pepper seasoning and lemon oil into her mix.

"Yeah…Totally, totally, totally. Sorry, Mom. Really focused on my baking right now." Star felt her heart twinge as she noticed her mother frown and wipe away a tear. Moon opened her mouth, seemed to think better of it and shook her head before continuing to mix her ingredients. For about ten minutes, the two ex-royals worked in silence, stealing awkward glances at one another. Finally, after what seemed like a millennia, Star threw her hands in the air, accidently tossing her mound of cookie dough (or cement, she couldn't quite tell) which stuck to the ceiling. Moon and Star stared for a solid thirty seconds before looking at one another. "Uhhhh… Gotta go clean that up! Let me go grab something to reach that with. Be right back, Mom!"

Without looking at her, Star dashed out of the room and raced out the back door of the Monster Temple. "Ahh, Cloudy. Wanna hit the mall?" Star hopped onto her pink bike and rode off, dialing Janna in the process.

After hitting up Janna and shopping for four hours, she realized she had ditched her mom longer than she originally planned. "I am-it's just so awkward. Like, she tried to talk to me but it always ends up in this weird silence where she randomly gives me princess tips that I don't even need anymore, ya know?!"

"No." Janna began shifting her bag, which was moving around.

Rolling her eyes, she glanced at her friend. "Seriously Janna, why did you buy all this…stuff?" She poked one of the bags in Janna's hand, while jumped and began to sway back and forth, producing some sort of growling sound. With a shriek, Star cradled her hand to her chest and jumped back.

"Obviously, you don't have the eye of an artist." Janna rolled her eyes as she stuffed her bags into her backpack. Her backpack began to violently shake and she punched it then quickly zipped up her bag, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary was in the bag. "Now-what to next. There is a Krampus exhibit over at-"

"STAR! And…Janna…Hey guys!" Star glanced over and felt her usual excitement and confusion whenever she saw Tom unexpectedly. Though she only had romantic feelings for Marco now, she still felt awkward around Tom on how to just be good friends and not fight like exes. Yet…they still made it work. Why couldn't she make it work with her mom?! The rest of the conversation was a blur as Star realized she didn't know how to move past the past. She was still stuck on how she should act and not just try and be normal. Realizing this, Star made a pack with herself-she was going to act normal with everyone-even her mom. With a jolt, she realized she needed to go talk to her mom. "Oh, corn! I'm going to be late for Meteora's first sword fighting lesson! Come on Janna! Bye, Tom!" Star grasped Janna's wrist and dragged her away.

As the pair dashed away, Star noticed a weird look on Janna's face. "What? Okay, so I lied…Meteora has already had four lessons but I have to go talk to my mom-"

"UGH! This again." Janna threw her hands in the air and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Star. Get over yourself. She's trying. Sure, your mom organized a coup and almost destroyed all of Mewni or whatever but she is trying. Just…give her a chance." Star blinked twice, not sure how to respond to Janna's advice. It was actually…good? Glancing behind them back in the direction Tom left, Janna smirked. "Hey, I gotta go do something. Catch ya later, Star." Without any explanation, Janna whirled around and dashed toward the new subway entrance.

"Man, she really is mayor of Weirdoville." Star mumbled as she turned to walk home.

The next day was a blur. Marco gave her a ride to school before he left to go work at the Non-Stump Tree Shop and worked feverously over what to tell her mother. Christmas Cookie Palooza was that night and she wanted to be ready for spreading Christmas cheer. (Or, as Marco put it, her being her normal self.) As Star was setting up the tables for the event, she noticed her mom standing at the entrance, surveying the gym. Her heart leapt into her throat. _Okay, Butterfly. Get over yourself. Just-be classy. _Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her mom and cheerfully waved. Her mom gave her a weird look-_Too much, Butterfly. Your smile looks like a Ludo Mask. _"Hi Mommy!" Star swung back and forth on the balls of her feet, fighting down the creepy smile from her face.

"Hello Star." Moon pierced her lips into a tight smile. "Well, it seems that I lost my helper for making cookies last night. I didn't even have your Corn Twin Sister to help me."

Cursing under her breath, Star closed one eye and looked at her mom through the other. "Hehe, I thought you had forgot about that…" _Be classy. _"Look, Mom. I'm sorry I ran away last night-I just, well, I pulled a Star. Things got awkward, so I ran away. And then I got all caught up in the Christmas Spirit or whatever Marco keeps saying and-well, sorry…"

Star looked at her mom, biting her lower lip. Moon blinked a couple times and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Star. That was very mature of you. I…I know things have been awkward as of late but I really want to fix things and make things better. So how about, after this, we go to that Christ-max shop or turn those trees into a Stump? How does that sound, dear?"

Her heart soared and a weight she didn't realize that had been on her shoulders lifted. "Sure, Mom. Let's go-oh corn! I forgot I'm supposed to hang with Marco. He said he had some baby celebration-whoa, don't give me that look, not _my_ baby! But Christmas is about a baby and he asked me to go with him and his parents and…" The small moment of elevation immediately crashed and burned into Star's soul as she noticed Moon's face fall.

"I see. Well, Star-"

"No! No! Mom, I-we can hang out later or-"

"Hey Star, ready to go?" Whirling around, Star noticed Marco standing there, scarf wrapped around his neck all the way to his nose. Evidently Star had a distressed look on her face as Marco blinked twice and unraveled his scarf to reveal his face. "Hey, if this is a bad time, we could-"

"MARCO! I'm such a bad person and Mom really wants to hang out but I promised you to hang out and you wanted to go to that Santa worship service or whatever and I'm just a totally bad daughter and I can't-" Words gushing out of her mouth, Star felt tears threatening to prick her eyes. She hadn't realized how much this had been eating away at her. She had been spending so much time with Marco and not even trying with her mom-the guilt was consuming her. Star balled up her fists and left her nails pierce her palms as she stifled a hiccup.

Suddenly, two pairs of arms engulfed her. Marco and Moon had both grabbed her into a tight hug, wrapping themselves into a Star Sandwich. "Hey, hey, you're not a bad daughter Star!" Marco caught Moon's eye, who kind of squinted one eye in slight disagreement but quickly back tracked. "Hey, how about we all go to the service together? It is a tree lighting service outside of that pretty church my parents go to on holidays. We should all go. What do you say, Moon? What to come?"

"Is this service in celebration of the Claus Deity?"

"Uhhh…maybe I should better explain Christmas traditions and history to you later…"

After the Christmas Cookie Palooza, the Butterfly and Diaz families went together to the biggest cathedral in the city of Echo Creek. Since the Merge, it had been grafted with a stone cottage used for magic practices. And with no magic-well, no need to use the cottage. Families and children were milling around in front of a gigantic tree. Some people were singing carols from the steps of the cathedral while others were walking around passing out unlit candles.

"So, that's why people celebrate Christmas." Marco concluded as they reached the crowd gathered in front of the tree.

"So this child king, JEE-zuz, he is the reason people celebrate this holiday? Not the non-deity man named Santa Claus?" Moon asked as she gripped her husband's hand to keep him from asking anything stupid.

"His name is Jesus. And some people, yes. Others are not religious but still celebrate it because of what Christmas stands for." Marco smiled as he grabbed some candles and began to pass them out to the others.

Angie smiled as she handed Mariposa to Rafael to lift her up to see around the crowd. The baby giggled and clapped her hands, causing the group to smile. Angie smiled lovingly at her daughter as she chimed in. "Marco is right. People celebrate because Christmas is about peace on Earth…er, Earthni…and good will toward men."

Catching her father's eye, Star frowned and looked at the Diaz family. "I don't get it."

Marco shook his head and sighed. "Mom means that it is a time of love, peace, forgiveness…" Marco glanced at Moon and smiled timidly at her. "And family." He glanced back at Star, who's heart gave a little somersault as he took her hand in his. She had to chide herself to not get ahead of themselves. They had only been dating half a year-family was waaaaay too far in the future.

"Ohhh, it's starting! My favorite part!" Rafael placed Mariposa on his shoulders and she along with the Butterfly family gapped in wonder as the tree exploded with twinkling lights, towering four stories high. People began to pass around their candles to light and a song began to build.

"Silent Night. Holy Night. All is calm. All is bright." The whole crowd began to sway and sing, family members holding each other tight. Star took in her surroundings with awe and delight. Forgiveness and family. Glancing to her left, Marco's face was lit with the light of the candle and a small smile was building as he sang along. Impulsively, (or really, just Star being Star) she pecked him on the check and tightened her hand in his. His face exploded in red and he glanced between her parents and his to assess if they saw the display of affection but no one seemed to notice or care.

"I love you, Marco." Star squeezed her hand and let go. "Forgiveness. And family." This time it was her turn to burn red. And she wasn't afraid-Marco was like family to her. (Though, little did she know that eventually they would be family. But that's for another time.) "Merry Christmas Marco."

Turning around, Star quickly jumped over to her parents and threw her arms around them. "Merry Christmas Mom! Merry Christmas Dad!" Star's vision began to twinkle though she wasn't sure if it was from her tears or from the candle light. Love began to flood her heart. Forgiveness. Family. Peace. Joy. All of it. This is what Christmas was about. New beginnings and hope. Suddenly, Star felt something wet hit her cheek and pulled away to see Moon hastily brushing away tears. River, however, didn't even attempt to compose himself.

"Merry Christmas, my girl! My girls!" He then pulled the two back into a bone crushing hug. "Holiday spirit! HA! I have no idea what they are talking about."

Moon smiled softly, seeming to realize what Star was feeling. She wrapped her feelings-apologies and words and emotions-into six simple words. "I love you. Merry Christmas, Star."

**Yes, all the buttery sweet cheesy goodness. And yes, this is the same time as Heat Wave! I thought it was fun to incorporate that story into this one a little bit. Plus, I hadn't really address Star and Moon's relationship very well. I feel like the finale stressed it was all going to be forgive and forget. Knowing Star, it will take time to forgive, despite what she says. And Christmas is about the hope of forgiveness and love. And, like I said last time, I have been having a difficult time being motivated to write. Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews and responses.-it has been very helpful and encouraging. I really appreciate each and every one of you who review and read my stories. Please let me know what you think of the stories. Thank you again for reading and see you next time! **

**SugarQueen97: Yes-Janna would be that person, wouldn't she? Honestly, newborn babies are never very pretty anyway but you have to say they are. And right? I feel like they should have a boy baby instead of a girl! Glad we are on the same page. **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much for your review. I am glad you enjoyed the chapter. You are such an encouragement! **


	14. Chapter 14

**Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful start to their 2020. Can you believe that we are living in 2020-seriously I thought we would have flying cars and teleportation stations by now. Maybe I watch too much Star Trek… Anyway, thank you again for joining back in with this series of stories. We are at over the halfway mark people! I appreciate you all so much! I don't own Star Vs the Forces of Evil. **

**Chapter 14: Narwhal Blast **

"NARWHAL BLAST!" Star blasted Man Arm with her magical spell while flipping over a car. With a toss of her hair, Star landed on her feet with a satisfied smirk. Man Arm lay flat on the ground, a narwhal sticking out of his butt. "HA! Hey Marco! It's like Pin the Narwhal on the-MARCO!" Swiveling around, she turned to see Marco struggling in a headlock by Lobster Claws. "Hang tight Marco!" She called as she began racing toward him.

Face beat red and puffy, he huffed, "How else would I be hanging?" With a grunt, he flung his legs up and kicked Lobster Claws in his eyes. With a shriek, Lobster Claws released him while scrambling to sooth his eyes. Instead, he ended up pinching them harder.

"OOOOOOOOWWWW! WHY CAN'T I HAVE FINGERS?!"

"ENOUGH!" A voice called through the parking lot, high pitched and nasally. "She's just a little girl-how do you keep losing to her?! GET THE WAND!" Turning, Star saw Ludo perched on top of a pickup-truck. He looked like a hood ornament. She tucked her head to the side and cupped her hands together. _Ahhh, so cute. _Suddenly, Ludo began to jump up and down wildly, his beard flapping up and down like wings. Star paused, straightening up. _Huh. Since when did he have a beard…_

With a jolt, she twirled around just as Boo-fly buzzed into her hair. "Haha-got you now, Princess! Muzzzzzzz not be your lucky day!" Shrieking, Star began to swat at him, trying to get him out of her hair. Suddenly, the world flipped over and she was staring up into the sky. Dazed, she slowly got up to see Marco using his hoodie as a fly swatter, bashing Boo-Fly away.

"Hey, you okay Star?" Marco dashed over to her to help her up. Gratefully taking his hand, she let him hoist her up before standing back to back. "Man, who ARE all these guys?"

Glancing around, Star noticed many new monsters surrounding them. Some of them seemed to be wearing ripped jeans, plaid shirts, and beanies while others looked menacing-and then some were just Ludo's regular monsters. Ludo gasped in frustration as the monsters began to circle the pair. "JUST GET STAR AND KARATE BOY ALREADY!" Catching Marco's eye, Star felt a smile creep onto her face. _Just like old times. _

Leaping into the air, Star raised her hands around her and shouted, "WINTERSTORM HYPERBLOW!" Ice and snow blasted the monsters around them. The alternatively dressed monsters began to cheer as they were suddenly frozen in place. They still caught each other's eyes and let out weak groans of joy as the still cheered for some reason Star couldn't comprehend. Half of Ludo's monsters were frozen to the ground while the others still stalked toward the best friends.

Star let out an annoyed huff. "Ugh, we are going to be later for Marco's…whatever he is going to!"

"Soap Making Bazaar?"

"YEAH! Marco's lame soap party."

"HEY!"

Ludo blinked once and hopped down from the car. "Really, Marco. And they say I'm pathetic." With a groan, Marco just slapped his forehead with his palm.

"Well, you're going to need soap to clean up your act, Ludo! SPIDER WITH A TOP-HAT BLAST!" Star whirled around and thrust her hands at Ludo. Spider With A Top Hat sprang out of her right palm and with his war cry began to expound his fury on the remaining monsters.

With a whoop, Marco ducked out of the reach of Three-Eyed Potato Baby, twirling something in his hand as he kicked the monster in the face. Star felt something tug in confusion in her stomach. She looked closer at Marco's hand as he stopped twirling…THE WAND?! With a jolt, Star looked and saw the blue and black winged wand Marco sported in his hand, with even the little mole mark Janna had drawn on it. Glancing down at her hands, she realized that they were glowing…with magic!

Suddenly, Star thrust her gaze up and gasped in horror. "MARCO!" Everyone was gone, everything was gone. No street lights. No cars. No monsters. No Ludo. No Marco. In its place were swirling, thunderous clouds, lightning flashing, and crumbling crystal pillars sticking out of a sea of black water. With a start, Star realized she was suddenly in the Realm of Magic.

The earth trembled and Star feel right onto her butt into the tumultuous sea.

Correction. She was in the middle of the Realm of Magic being destroyed. "MARCO!" Star cried again, springing up and racing toward a pile of garbage underneath a geyser. Heart pounding, Star sprinted faster and faster, yet didn't seem to get any closer to the geyser. Suddenly, another earthquake shook the sea and the geyser exploded, sending Star into a crystal. "MARCO-NO!" Tears fell down her checks as her hearts began to fade. She slapped her checks and began to rub them vigorously. "No, no, no, no, no! I gotta get him back! He will come back for me! We destroyed the magic-he will come back for me." Finally, a sob tore through Star's throat as she heaved a sob. "He was supposed to come back. He was supposed to come back for me."

"Who was supposed to come back for you?"

Literally, the last person Star wanted to hear was here. With a sniffle, Star turned to see Glossaryck floating in the air, blue face unreadable. Springing up, Star grabbed the little man in an angry hug. "GLOSSARYCK! You're here! Alive? Or am I dead again? Or was I ever dead to-"

"Star? Where is my pudding?" Glossaryck put his hands on either side of Star's hands and shimmied his way out of her grip. Star blinked twice, not noticing the Realm of Magic disappearing into nothingness but the cauldron of burning stew in front of her. Her heart began to beat faster. Her palms began to sweat. Before she could stop it, the dam of emotion burst out of her like an explosion.

"WHY ARE YOU SO SELFISH?! I mean-come on! First, you never give me answers. Then, you died and came back to life and made me change your DIAPERS for a year! A YEAR GLOSSARYCK! Oh, and then, your voice changed for whatever reason. And then, you tell me to go destroy magic and it was meant to be this way! JUST STOP BEING SO CRYPTIC AND TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON! WHY DID YOU NOT STOP ME FROM DESTROYING MAGIC?!"

With a dry sob, Star flopped onto the floor and pulled her knees into herself. She began to shiver, confusion and guilt racking her body and mind. "You let me be selfish. I try so hard to not be-yet you told me to do it because it would help everyone. But it didn't help ANYONE!" She buried her face into her knees, tears making her tights wet. Star stayed like that for a few minutes, just letting out her emotions. She wasn't sure how long she sat there crying until she felt a small hand tap her on the top of her head.

"Yeah, you done yet?" Star peeked out from under her arms to see Glossaryck stretching his leg away from her head and up into the air. With a grunt, he eyed the girl incredulously. "Seriously, Star, do you really think yourself that important?"

Anger flooded Star again as she puffed out her cheeks. As she opened her mouth to retort, Glossaryck waved his hand in front of her. "Nah-ah-ah. No. You really need to get over yourself. This was always going to happen. Whether it was you-or Meteora-or you and Marco's future kids.-Don't give me that you, you were always going to get together. You just had to make it like some teen anime drama." Star snapped her mouth shut in annoyance. There was no stopping Glossaryck when he was like this. It was like River whenever he got onto his stories about his hunting trips. "So get over yourself. This is how it is supposed to be."

"But-I ruined people's lives. Dimensions-our friends. Kelly and Jorby. Talon. People whose lives depended on magic. It just-I didn't think-"

"Since when do you think, Star?" Glossaryck retorted. Ignoring Star's face, he continued. "So, to make you feel better or whatever you need from this vision quest-here's the deal. You had to destroy magic. It was always going to be this way."

Star paused, looking into the burning cauldron. The flames reflected on her blue eyes but didn't stop the fire inside of them. "Did I ever have a choice?"

Blinking, Glossaryck stared at her blankly. "Of course you did." He gave a small smile. "You did what was best for everyone." He floated down to Star, placing a six-fingered hand on her shoulder. "Besides, magic doesn't ever really go away. It's like energy. It changes. Like pudding-whenever-"

"AHHHHHH!"

Star bolted up, grasping her chest in shock. Shaking, she began to fill around her. Soft, mushy comforter. Check. Teddy bear Marco won her at the local Earthni fair? Check. Glancing around herself, she was back in her room at the Monster Temple on Earthni. The Mewni moons were bright and high in the sky as the aurora borealis dancing in the air.

It was a dream.

With a sigh of relief, Star laid back down onto her pillow and glanced at her compact mirror. Suddenly, with a jolt, she sat back up again. The date. Exactly one year. One year since this had all started. Quickly pulling on tights under her dressing gown, she raced toward the window and crawled down the banister. Sneaking through the night, Star dashed toward the one person she knew she could count on. Climbing up the gutter, Star tapped lightly on the window. "Marco. Maaaaarcooooo. Marco. Marco. Marco. Marco. Marco. Marco."

Suddenly, the window swung open, showing a disheveled and frustrated Marco. He glared at his girlfriend angrily. "Star! It's three in the morning. What are you doing here?!"

Shoving him aside, Star leapt into his room and began to pace the floor. "A year, Marco. A whole year. And it's all our fault. Because we started this. And yeah, we love each other and whatever. But Boo-fly was in my hair and I noticed you had a wand and then Glossaryck said that it was always supposed to happen and we just were selfish because we wanted to be together and destroyed magic and a gazillion people's lives but magic isn't dead-it just changes and we change but Glossaryck said it would have happened anyway and-"

"Did you eat too many Sugarittas before going to bed, Star?"

"Marco! You're not listening!" Star thrust her hands into the air, stopping her paces and whirling on her heels to glare at Marco. With a deep breath, Star turned back toward her boyfriend. "It's been one year, Marco. One year of Earthni. Of no magic. And I may have had a few Sugarittas before bed but this dream-it felt so real!" She began to rub her arm. "Did we do the right thing? Glossaryck said we did and things have turned out okay here but…did we?"

Marco stared at her for a few seconds before pulling her into a hug. Unable to control herself, Star clung tight and fought the urge to cry. She felt Marco rub her back as he answered. "You did the right thing, Star. Glossaryck said it would have happened anyway, right?" Star stayed silent, not trusting herself to talk. But it was as if Marco could read her thoughts. "Magic may not exist anymore. People may have depended on magic but they will adapt. People may miss magic. Heck-I miss magic. And Heckapoo and Nachos and fighting monsters. But maybe it's a good thing. We can make our own magic."

Slowly, Star pulled away and looked at her boyfriend in a new light. "Are you wise because you're old from Heckapoo's dimension?"

Puffing out his chest, Marco tapped his chest with his fist. "Well, I did get my first gray hair." Star smiled as she poked his stomach, causing him to deflate. She giggled lightly as he rubbed his head with an awkward smile. "That's what he means. Magic isn't dead. It just…changed. Magic may not be Narwhal Blasts or Exploding Fire Kittens-"

"Sparkle Kitten Fireworks Shower."

"Not the point, Star. Anyway, magic isn't spells and monster fighting anymore. It is love, family, friendship-and not getting food poisoning from Britta's Tacos 2.0." He took her hand and squeezed. Star gave him a thoughtful look before returning a bright smile.

"I think this magic might be better."

Suddenly, a bright flash blinded both teens as they shielded their eyes with yells of confusion. Blinking rapidly, Star and Marco saw spots and what looked suspiciously like-"JANNA?!"

"Alright. Let's make some magic, people." She took out the polaroid picture from the camera and began to lightly shake it. "Ahhh, you'll thank me later for this."

Frustrated, Marco dashed up to her and grabbed the camera from her hands. "Seriously, how long have you been here? Wait-have you been in my room this whole time?! Did my parents let you in?"

With a shrug, Janna smirked and grabbed her camera back before climbing out the window and shimming down the gutter. The pair dashed toward the window and looked down to see that Janna had already disappeared.

Turning to Marco, Star grimaced. "Thank Corn Janna doesn't have magic."

** Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought a dream sequence would be fun to include magic and also some of the guilt Star was likely to have about magic. Honestly, it probably wouldn't hit her until way later-and Glossaryck seemed to be the perfect person to address her guilt with. Thank you again for reading, commenting, favoriting, and following and for letting me know what you think! Until next time! **

**SugarQueen97: This Christmas tale is where I think Janna and Tom would start hitting it off-though you think Star and Marco are a slow burn (ha-ha!) And thank you-I wanted to add the religious aspect. I am also a Christian! However, I don't feel like Marco and Star are particularly religious but I wanted to combine both secular and religious aspects of Christmas. It isn't an easy balance to find-that is for sure. Thank you so much for telling me about your thoughts. You are such an encouragement. **

**Starco4everr: Me too. I feel like it would take Star a while to truly forgive her mom, but she will continue to try nonetheless. Thank you for your continual encouragement. It really means a lot to me! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again fellow Star vs the Forces of Evil lovers! Thanks again for tuning in. This chapter is going to be a bit different-it's the Ponyhead Show-starring: Ponyhead! It is going to run like a television script (except you know The Ponyhead Show isn't scripted-could you imagine if she did write a script? Internal shivers.) Please let me know what you think! Thank you again for reading, commenting, favoriting, and following. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**15: Oh Snap! **

(_Lights brighten a stage, upbeat pop music plays from a robot DJ in the background, Ponyhead rushes forward to the spotlight.)_

**Ponyhead: **What up, party peoples?! It's ya horse, Ponyhead! Welcome to my show, The Ponyhead Show. Starring-me, Ponyhead. Who else would it be? _(Pauses for applause.)_

**Ponyhead: **Umm, where's my live audience? SEA HORSE! GO GET ME AN AUDIENCE!

**Sea Horse:** Right away, my darling! I'll go get right on that! _(Sprints out of the studio.) _

**Ponyhead:** So I have a great show for you today-just like everything I do is great. First we have my girl Star Butterfly and Earth Turd Marco Diaz with the latest boring news stuff. Then we have Prince of the Underworld Tom Lucitor with What Looks Good On Me Fashion, Janna Ordonia with Oh No She Didn't, and two people who I don't know with Oh Snap!, the latest gossip on the street, and of course, Talking with Ponyhead with Brittany Wong. Let's get started! _(Whips around to camera three, snorts out steam.) _SEA HORSE! Where did you go? Get my good side!

**Marco:** Uhh, Pony, you said that this was a dress rehearsal! _(Hiding behind Star, peeking out from over her shoulder. Star rolls her eyes at Marco.) _I didn't dress appropriately. I'm in my sweatpants! _(Camera pans out to show Star, Marco, and Pony all on stage.) _

**Ponyhead:** Well sorry that you thought this was a dress rehearsal, Marco, but you are supposed to dress up like there was no rehearsal because there wasn't one.

**Marco:** Ughhhhhh

**Star:** _(Shoving Marco out from behind her and straightening her shoulders.)_ Marco, I told you to dress up! Besides, why would you wear a dress for a rehearsal?

**Marco:** Star, that is not what that means.

**Ponyhead:** Oh hey, everyone, let's tune into Earth Turd and Star to see what the latest in the world is or whatever. _(Camera zooms in Marco's face growing red and Star tossing her hair.) _

**Star:** Hello! Well to The News! Soooo, me and Marco may have made a bit of a mess when our dimensions became Earthni but things are sort of looking better! Marco?

**Marco:** _(Coughs into hand and rubs back of head, crossing legs awkwardly to hide sweatpants.)_ Uhh, right Star. After the Merge a few months ago, people from Earth and Mewni have been having to learn to live together. There is still tension between Mewmans and Monsters but the humans seem to be adapting rather well to their new neighbors. There has already been a restructuring of the voting system to include Monster and Mewman vote and-"

**Ponyhead:** BORING! _(Tosses her mane as camera pans out to show all three on stage.) _Super boring. Just-wow. Latest news flash-Marco and Star are super boring. _(Star crosses her arms and narrows her eyes while Marco rolls his eyes. Pony pauses.) _Sorry Star, you are never boring.

**Marco:** And what about me? _(Throws hands into air.)_

**Ponyhead:** Marco, you are always boring. Sorry, the truth hurts. _(Pony ignores Marco's outcry. Camera pans in on her face as she winks.)_ Next up, we have Tom Lucitor with the latest fashion trends. But first, check out this new move I made_. (Turns away from camera, before turning head back to camera and shimmies neck up and down to the beat being laid down by the robot DJ.)_ Oh check me out!

**Tom:** Uhh, Ponyhead? Isn't it time for my segment. _(Voice from off screen.) _

**Ponyhead:** _(Sighs and whips around to face Tom.) Whatever_, way to be a camera hog, Tom! Here is Lucitor with the latest fashion or whatever.

**Tom:** (_Camera pans to Tom, who is straightening his tie and looking at Pony with three dubious eyebrows raised. Noticing the camera is on him, he whips his hands on his jacket as if they are sweaty and turns on a big, uncomfortable smile.)_ Oh, hey! Yeah-I'm Tom. Tom Lucitor. Prince of the Underworld. You may have heard of me. And I'm here today to tell you about the latest fashion trends of Earthni. (_Begins to walk awkwardly toward the green screen behind him, obviously uncomfortable.)_ Hehe-so-Peasant Chic. The latest fashion is peasant chic. The humans have taken to Mewman fashion, adopting lacy and tattered clothes into their daily wardrobe. Monsters have also taken to this style, wearing bonnets and hats whenever they can. So on the screen behind me is-"

_(Stage goes black, cries from everyone in the studio sound out. Suddenly, the lights flash back on to reveal Ponyhead in a peasant dress, wearing a bonnet and hoop earrings.) _

**Ponyhead:** MEEEE! Look at me-I'm so peasant chic. _(Twirls around as dress almost falls off of her. It flows loosely around her body. Shakes her head and the earrings clink.) _PRANCISS! Come show the world the boy fashion.

**Pranciss:** _(Floats meekly out into the studio.)_ Ponyhead…I don't want to wear this. I look like a boy…

**Ponyhead:** And that is precisely why you are the one wearing it! Do you think anyone would believe my gorgeous self in those clothes? Just get over yourself! Why are you always look for attention? Huh? Huh? You are such an attention seeker. Just be a good sister and model the outfit. Gosh. _ (Flips mane, blows a kiss at the camera.) _Thank you Tom for the latest fashion update. We want to make sure all our viewers look their best-like me! _(Camera pans in to Ponyhead.)_ And now a word from our sponsors.

_(Commercial break) _

**Narrator with deep, sad voice:** Has your neighborhood been overrun by monsters? _(Monsters running around humans in their house.)_ Does your house sit under a giant mysteriously destroyed castle? _(Butterfly Castle in the mist as tourists make peace signs in front of a tiny house in front. The owner of the house huffs and crosses their arms.)_ Do your children play with mysterious objects from another dimension? _(Shows baby playing with magical-looking knife as a rattle.)_ Vote for Janitor Gray for Mayor of Echo Creek-he will clean up this town and make it Earth again. _(Shows janitor from Echo Creek Academy holding a broom staring into the distance, a small smile on his face.)_ Janitor Gray-it could be someone worse.

_(Stage lights flash as on the screen states 'Return to your regular programing.') _

**Ponyhead:** Welcome back to The Ponyhead Show! Starring me-Ponyhead!

**Marco:** (_Runs onto stage.)_ Why is that your sponsor?

**Ponyhead:** Shut up Marco, you never say no when people are paying you! GOSH! _(Marco rolls eyes and sits in his seat next to Star, who pats his hand.) _Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, our next segment is Oh No She Didn't! With Janna Ordonia! _(Camera swings over to Janna standing behind a podium, a smirk on her face. She adjusts her beanie.) _

**Janna:** Hey, thanks Pony. Welcome to Oh No She Didn't! Today we have a 'special' prank, brought to you by yours truly_. (Pulls out a remote and points it at the screen behind her. The screen lights up and a video of Marco working a concession stand at a movie theatre plays.)_ Today we have Marco Diaz on the screen. _(Camera swings over to Marco, who is staring at the screen angrily, standing out of his seat. Star is next to him hiding a smile behind her hand.) _

**Marco:** Janna! Get out of town! (_Camera swings back to Janna.) _

**Janna:** We see Mr. Diaz working at his afternoon job now that Christmas is over since this is all a GED can get you. _(Marco's voice calls out that he is applying to college and saving money and there is nothing wrong with working at a movie theatre. Janna ignores him.)_ Let's take a look and find out what happens, shall we? _(Screen turns to Marco going into the back to grab supplies as Janna sneaks into the theatre, rolls over the counter and detaches the hose for the oil. Marco is heard whistling in the back, so Janna rolls back over the counter and out of sight. Marco comes back in, puts popcorn seeds into the popper and pushes the oil button. At first nothing happens, then all of a sudden all the seeds begin to shoot out_ _and_ _hit Marco over and over repeatedly. Marco shrieks and pulls out popcorn backs to shield himself. The screen goes blank as the camera pans back to Janna and widens to reveal Marco.)_

**Marco:** THAT WAS YOU?! I HAD POPCORN STUCK IN MY EAR AND HAD TO GET IT REMOVED BY THE DOCTOR! _(Marco was breathing hard, eyes crazed and angry. Star bit her lip to keep from laughing but gently pulls Marco back into his seat and pats his back.) _

**Janna:** _(With a shrug.)_ It wasn't my best. As for our next prank, I will teach you how to pull off a successful identity theft by-

**Tom:** (_Tom rushes onto the stage, shoving a large peasant hat over Janna's head. She struggles to get it off.) _Okay! That's all for this segment! Thank you for watching! Take it away, Pony! (_Camera swings over to show Ponyhead out of the peasant clothes but still wearing the earrings.) _

**Ponyhead:** Thanks Tom. Next we have Oh Snap! With…uhhh, what are your names again? _(Camera pans over to reveal Alfonso and Ferguson waving awkwardly.) _

**Alfonso:** Alfonso and Ferguson! How many times do we have to tell you? _(Turns toward Ferguson, who is wringing his hands nervously.) _You ready, bro?

**Ferguson:** It's finally time for our big break-Alfonso and Ferguson-feature episode!

**Alfonso:** Our time to shine! (_Both take a deep breath, when Ponyhead suddenly flies in front of them and cuts off their speech.)_

**Ponyhead:** Ohh, sorry. We are running short on time. _(Alfonso and Ferguson visibly deflate.)_ What? You're just backup for Jackie and Janna anyway! _(Camera follows Pony as she floats over to a table next to a couch.)_ Now it's time for your favorite part of the show-Talking with Ponyhead! Our special guest today is Brittany Wong!

_(Applause sign glows as Brittany walks into the studio with the robot DJ playing Barbie Girl. Brittany frowns and angrily sits down on the couch with her arms crossed.) _

**Ponyhead**: Wow, welcome to the show Brittany. You obviously have a lot of attitude and personality-just like me. (_Brittany rolls her eyes.)_ So Brittany, you are now head cheerleader at Echo Creek Academy as a junior. Evidently that means something on Earth. Tell us about it.

**Brittany:** Well, obviously, who else could do it? No one is as pretty or has as good hair as me!

**Ponyhead:** Yeah, your hair is bangin' girl! How do you do it?

**Brittany:** _(Flips her hair over her shoulder and smirks.)_ Oh, this? First you have to be born with it like me, but if you want to be even somewhat as awesome as me, you have to brush it with a horse hair hairbrush to make it smooth.

**Ponyhead:** _(Gasps and floats up into Brittany's face.)_ Whoa, what is with this hostility? I am a horse! Why does the head cheerleader need to have such an attitude with me? This is the Ponyhead Show-and I am Ponyhead! You don't see me floating up into your cheerleading practice and having attitude now do you? Wow, you are so full of it!

**Brittany: **_**(**__Rolls her eyes.)_ Whatever. Didn't think you would freak out about a stupid hairbrush. Sorry if the truth hurts.

**Ponyhead:** _(Slowly floats back toward desk.) _Fine. So what is your love-life like? Any cuties at Echo Creek?

**Brittany:** I'm dating the captain of the football team-he's a senior. We are just like a couple from the movies. We are so in love. I'm popular. He's popular. We will always be loved and adored by everyone at school. _(Cough from background of Janna that sounds suspiciously like 'delusional.') _Everyone is just so jealous of me.

**Ponyhead:** Girl, I don't know what movies you've been watching, but it a'int like anything I've ever seen before. (_Brittany gasps angrily and flips her hair to the side, her frown deepening.)_ You think that is love? YO' MARCO! TAKE THE CAMERA! SEA HORSE-GET OUT HERE! _(Sea Horse slowly comes up to Ponyhead, Brittany confused as her eyebrows go up.)_ Brittany, you don't know what you are talking about. Sea Horse-propose to me right now!

**Sea Horse:** What? Wah-really? Hmm-are you sure? We are so young-but if insist… _(Camera pans to Marco and Tom groaning, shaking their heads as Janna and Star watch open mouthed in shock. Star hands clasp together and shakes her head. Camera pans back to Pony, Sea Horse, and Brittany.) _

**Ponyhead:** _(Snorts and huffs at him.)_ Of course-we gotta show this girl how we are so much better at love than her or whatever!

**Sea Horse:** Oh, well, if you insist. Will you marry me, Princess Ponyhead?

_(Groans sound throughout the studio as Ponyhead tosses her mane and eyes Brittany with a smirk before turning back to Sea Horse.) _

**Ponyhead:** YAAAAAASSSS! WE'RE GETTING MARRIEEEEEEEED! (_Turns to Brittany, floats up into her face_.) Try to top that!

**Brittany:** Whatever. I'm going to call Daddy. _(Getting up, she stamps her foot, flips her hair, and storms off the stage.)_

**Sea Horse:** WOW! We are getting married! I am so happy! We need to start planning! When do you want to get married, my sweet flying princess? _(He begins to flap his fins and pushed his glasses up his nose. Slowly, Ponyhead turns to him and grimaces.) _

**Ponyhead:** Oh sorry…I only did that so she would get off her high horse or whatever…I'm totally breaking off the engagement with you. You just need too much water. _(Camera close-shot of Sea Horse's face, his face twitching. He frowns and sadly sprays himself with his water bottle.) _

_(Cameras swing out as Ponyhead flies in front of her banner. The robot DJ begins to play upbeat music as Star, Marco, Janna, Tom, Alfonso, and Ferguson all crowd around Sea Horse to comfort him as Ponyhead floats above them.) _

**Ponyhead:** Thanks for coming to the Ponyhead Show, starring me-Ponyhead! Remember, you only wish you were as cool as me! Byeeeeee!

_(Ponyhead begins to dance to the song and the studio fade into darkness.) _

**I hope you liked the episode-I mean story. I thought it would be fun to explore just how narcissistic Ponyhead really is-it is fun to write that. Poor Sea Horse, how does he put up with her? Despite being such a jerk, she is such a funny character to write. Also, I used to work at a movie theatre and the popcorn would sometimes shoot kernels at you if you forgot oil and burn really badly-so the prank was super over the top but oh well. Plus, love to sideline Alfonso and Ferguson like the show! Anyway, thank you again for reading! Until next time! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much for your continual encouragement-it really means a lot! I am so glad you liked the story! It is interesting to think about what all consequences Star would have to deal with after destroying magic. **


	16. Chapter 16

**It's that time again. Thank you again for tuning back in! That last chapter was a blast to write. Ponyhead is such a riot! Also, this one will focus more on Marco being hopelessly awkward and always being one to put his foot in his mouth. Hope you enjoy this chapter! I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**Chapter 16: Please **

"Seriously Star, that was way too much!"

Marco was furious as he began to yank off his tie as he walked down the sidewalk underneath the crescent Earth moon. Frustrated, he balled up the tie into his pocket and whipped around to glare at his girlfriend. "I can't believe you did that!"

Star sank down onto a bench. She quickly took off her heels and began to rub her feet. "Ahhh, come on, Marco. It was just a prank!" Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, she crossed her legs underneath her dress. "Seriously, you need to lighten up."

"Lighten up? LIGHTEN UP?!" Huffing, he whipped his phone out of his pocket. As the screen lit up his face, Star couldn't tell if the crazy haze in his eyes was from the blue light or him. "AH-HA! Look-already it has 50,000 views. She only posted this 30 minutes ago!" Gently, Star took the phone from Marco-even though she already knew what was on the phone.

It showed a video of the Echo Creek Academy Prom in full swing. Brittany Wong was spotted crying in the corner, her prom queen crown broken in two on the floor as her king was dancing with another girl under the disco ball. Marco and Star sucked in a breath as they saw themselves dancing onto the screen. Marco jigged in a circle as Star on the screen quickly plucked something out of her satchel and patted Marco on the back to get his attention. Marco faced her on the screen and Star gestured toward the drink table. On-screen Marco flashed her a smile before he turned. Star on screen and Star watching giggled before covering it up with a cough. Marco groaned as he watched what happened next. "Ugh, I don't want to relive this."

As Marco on screen turned, dozens of small reflective mirrors danced light off his back. As he made his way to the drink table, people began to shield their eyes away from Marco's lights and before anyone could act, a security guard tackled Marco onto the ground and the whole gymnasium groaned in sympathy. Star finally couldn't handle it anymore and burst into laughter, falling off the bench and dirtying her prom dress.

"Star, it is not funny! The guard thought I was a security hazard!"

"Yeah, he probably will give you a ticket for indecent flashing!"

"STAR!"

Failing miserably at putting a sober look on her face, Star straightened up and pulled herself back onto the bench. The streetlight above them flickered before going out. Only the moon lit their faces. She glanced at the phone again. "Oh, look, they have it in slow motion!"

Marco groaned, thrusting his phone into the pocket with his tie. "How could you go along with Janna on this? I could have gotten hurt! I'm your boyfriend, you should be helping me and not her!"

Rolling her eyes, Star hid a smile behind her hand. "Ohh, come on Marco. You need to lighten up. You didn't get hurt. Janna wouldn't really do anything to hurt you. She has Tom now to distract her. Just have some fun for once, like we used to. Do you want to be Safe Kid again?"

"I'M NOT SAFE KID ANYMORE, STAR!" Star jumped at Marco's explosion. Her smile immediately fell from her face as he continued on. "You have way too much fun, Star. I'm not the one even in school anymore. I work all the time and you just play in class waiting for graduation." Marco threw his hands in the air, not noticing Star's eyebrows furrow together. "That's why people didn't take you seriously as a princess."

Immediately, Marco realized his mistake. He whipped around and turned with raised hand to face Star. "Wait, no-Star, that's not-" But it was too late. Tears were running down her face as she balled up her fists.

"I can't believe you would say that, Marco Diaz. Just leave me alone!" Clutching her shoes in her hands, Star dashed away in tears, her hair falling out of her bun.

"Wait, Star, Please! I didn't mean it!" Marco began to chase after her but slowly stopped as the light flickered back on above him before going out again. "Way to go, Diaz." In anger, he karate-chopped the trash bin closest to him. Pain instantly flared up as he began to hop around cradling his hand. "Ow, ow, ow. Okay, that was dumb."

With a heavy sigh, Marco slowly made the walk to the Monster Temple. The wind blew through his hair and his eyes began to water-though he wasn't sure if it was at his own stupidity or the wind drying out his eyes. Maybe he should get some eyedrops-

"Well, hello dear! Up for a bit of midnight gardening?"

Whipping his head up, Marco realized he was finally at the Monster Temple and had almost stepped on Eclipsa. With a yelp, Marco jumped back and struggled to stay balanced. "Eclipsa! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Smirking, she shrugged as she continued to prune her roses. "Well, I was the Queen of Darkness. Are you here to talk to Star? She seemed pretty upset as she rushed by here not too long ago." Eclipsa stabbed her blade into the dirt, wiped her hands together to get off the dirt and promptly turned to eye Marco with a raised brow. "Trouble in Lover's Lane?"

"I really got to talk to Star! I said something stupid and untrue and just really need to tell her I'm sorry." Marco rubbed the back of his neck and glanced down shyly. He missed Eclipsa's knowing smile as she stood up.

"Well, she did seem pretty upset. It might be a good idea to let her cool off and talk with her in the morning." She raised a hand to quiet his protest. "Globgor does this same thing more often than I would like. Every time he does something stupid, he goes to talk things over with his fellow chums, and later comes back with chocolates and apologizes." She winked at Marco as he looked skeptically at her. "Trust me, I am over 300 years old you know."

Nodding thoughtfully, Marco glanced up at the tower that Star's room was located. He thought he saw someone with a large amount of blonde hair dash away from the balcony. Turning back to Eclipsa, he sighed in acceptance. "Talk it over with my bros. Give her time. Got it. Thanks Eclipsa…"

"Anytime dear. Now, if you don't mind, these roses only like to be pruned at night so if you could-be off." Without ceremony, she returned back to her gardening. Marco slowly turned before heading back home. _Who can I call? _Taking out his phone, he cringed when he noticed the time but his relationship with Star was just too important to worry about other people's bedtimes.

"Okay. Who to call…Who to call…Dad?" Marco spoke out loud to himself as he began to walk toward his home through the Mewman district of Echo Creek. Yurts and huts were sporadically spaced around him as he continued through the late evening air. "No…He would give weird advice using pizza nuggets for examples and start crying that we would break up….Tom?"

Instantly, Marco shook his head. Probably a bad idea to ask Star's ex-boyfriend when their break-up was still too fresh for him. Plus-Tom had his own problems to worry about with Janna harassing him 24/7 for some weird reason. Why couldn't she just have pranked him!?

"Alfonso and Ferguson…their only healthy relationships were with the Pixie Queen who wanted to eat them-so that's a hard pass. Think Diaz-who could you-"

WHAM!

Landing on his back, Marco groaned in pain as he was tackled for the second time that night. "What hit me?"

"MARCO, MY BOY! You were easier to push over than a pansy." Inwardly, Marco groaned as he was slowly pulled himself to his feet to see none other than Star's dad.

"Wow…River…you were the last person I wanted-um, I mean, expected to see at this time of night." Marco frowned as the former king began to survey their surroundings. He was clothed in his loincloth-never a good sign for Marco.

"I am stalking a new game. The natives call them the Cad-o-lacks. I have yet to see one, but evidently it makes the most pleasant purring noise and everyone desires to ride this beast." He quickly lowered his voice, glancing left and right to ensure they hadn't been seen. "It is said that they are made by man. Can you believe it? A beast made by man!" With a chuckle, River knelt down near the ground and sniffed before licking the ground. Puckering his lips, he glanced back up at Marco. "Why, whatever is the matter, my boy?" River swiveled around as he surveyed the area for the mystical Cadillac beasts-though he didn't notice one drive off in the distance.

Inwardly, Marco groaned-this was the last person he wanted girl advice from. But, beggars can't be choosers-though who would have chosen River he would never know. "Well, so tonight was the Echo Creek Prom and Star and I got into a fight-"

"YOU LAID A HAND ON MY DAUGHTER?!"

"What?! What?! NO! I would never-umm, could you let go of my collar?" As River let go of Marco, the teenage boy awkwardly coughed and straightened out his suit before continuing his story. "Uhh, anyway, we had an argument and I said something stupid and I want to make it up to her. Well, anyway…yeah, I'm going go buy some chocolates and, I guess say sorry."

River stared blankly at Marco. "I wasn't listening. What did you say, Marco?"

Rolling his eyes, Marco retold his story. The former king began to shake his head as he tightened his loincloth and began to pace back and forth. Placing one hand behind his back and raising the other, he began to give his speech. "Marco, let me tell you a little bit about women. They want you to do whatever they say. They believe that they know more than you just because they are queen or have higher intelligence or practice basic hygiene. And they always want you to say Please! Please what?!" Marco raised an eyebrow but there was no stopping him now. "There are so many times that my Moon Pie has thrown me out for saying stupid things or not cleaning up my dirty underwear or being 'too Rivery'-whatever that means." Quickly, he turned toward Marco, striding up to him until they were face to face. Marco struggled to get back but River held him strong. "There are three things you must do. First-you must dance around her in the native Mewman courting dance to please her."

Taking a step back, River began to hop from foot to foot, waving his hands above his head as he raised his head to the sky and began to call out like a pidgin. "Coo! Coo coo! Coo coo ca choo! Coo coo ca choo!"

"Umm, River, I think that's an Earth song by the-" But before Marco could finish his thought, the former king dashed to the teenager and grasped him by both of his arms.

"Second, you must stare at your beloved in the eyes without blinking for as long as you can stand it." River pressed his nose into Marco's, his blue eyes unblinking. Marco gulped as he felt his already dry eyes start to water. Man, he needed some eyedrops. "Hold steady! A man must never blink-the eye contact forces her to accept the apology because she will feel your conviction."

Feeling awkward, Marco squinted one eye as he continued to look at River. "Or make her feel so awkward that she will accept your apology to make it stop?"

"Precisely." River's eyes began to water and shake. With a swift movement, the older man whipped out a pair of tweezers from his loincloth and plucked out three beard hairs. His eyes widened in pain but he refused to blink. "And you must pull out hairs from your beard to ensure you will not blink first."

Marco glanced to the left and right before looking back at River. "Umm, I don't have a beard. Are you sure this works with Moon-"

"Than the next order of business is to grow a beard. It may take a few years-or in your case, it may take a lifetime-but once your beard is grown, you may apologize to my daughter." River clapped his hands on either side of Marco's face, causing him to jump away from the awkward intimacy that River was emitting.

"I don't have a few years, I need to apologize to Star now." Marco stood up to his full height and crossed his arms adamantly. "Star is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I cannot let some stupid mistake mess that up!"

Shaking his head, River pierced his lips. "You cannot approach my daughter with just an apology and no beard. At least get yourself an Apology Meat."

Noticing the Mewman moons starting to rise in the distance, Marco realized just how late it was getting. "I'll remember that for next time. Thanks, River, for your…uhh, advice." Without another word, Marco dashed away toward the nearest store that was open at such a late time.

Twenty minutes later, Marco dashed toward the Monster Temple as fast as he could. Eclipsa's advice about talking to his friends might have been a bust but the flowers and chocolates on the other hand…Marco checked his watch to see that it was almost 2 a.m. when-

WAM!

For the second time that night, Marco fell onto his butt. Slowly standing up and rubbing his bottom, he glanced to see Star straightening up as well, boxes of Chinese food strewn everywhere. The two stared at each other for a solid ten seconds before exclaiming, "Hey, I'm so sorry-wait-sorry-you first-no, you!"

Chuckling shyly, Marco grabbed his gifts for her off the ground. "I thought that was supposed to stop with when the Blood Moon Curse ended."

Star smiled softly before picking up the Chinese food boxes and her Apology meat and held them to her chest. "I'll go first. I'm sorry, Marco. I haven't been a supportive girlfriend lately, so I brought you an Apology Meat and some Chinese food-which, by the way, Eclipsa and Globgor have these hidden everywhere in the temple, it's super weird. Anyway…I'm sorry I haven't been supportive and I know I don't always take life seriously. I shouldn't-"

"Star, why are you apologizing?!" Marco slowly sat down on the ground and Star followed suit. "I'm the one who should be saying sorry! Star-I am so sorry. Please forgive me! I can be cranky and uptight, and with working all the time I just haven't been as fun and maybe a little jealous of all the free time you have." Marco gently handed the flowers and chocolates to Star, who gave him a smile back. "I'm working on being more flexible and Star-I was wrong. You were an amazing princess. You changed Mewni for the better and brought Monsters and Mewmans together. You really made a difference."

The ice that he hadn't known that was in Marco's heart melted as Star beamed at him and threw her arms around him. The Apology Meat leg and Chinese food accidently flew out of her hands and down Marco's back. Noodles poured down his suit and into his shirt. The pair pulled away and stared at each other in shock. "Oh, my gosh, Marco…I'm so-"

Suddenly, a box of noodles was unceremoniously dumped onto Star's head as Marco burst into laughter. A giggle escaped her lips before she followed suit. Before long, Marco and Star were flinging rice, noodles, wontons, and chocolates at one another, laughing into the night.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt it was just a silly chapter that would have been filler episode material in the TV show. While I loved the plot and arcs of the show, the fillers were fun and helped me appreciate the story arcs more. Plus, I hadn't had any Marco or Star fights yet, which I felt would be important to their relationship. No relationship is perfect-at all! What is important is how you work through those tough times. Also, I love the Marco and the King episode from the Battle of Mewni and exploring Marco and River's relationship more is fun too. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you again for reading, following, favoriting, and commenting!**

**Sugar: Yes! Someone sees it too! Brittany is like Human Ponyhead. And oh-Sea Horse deserves so much better than Ponyhead-that would be interesting to look into if he dumped her! And we were on the same wavelength-I had already planned for Star and Marco to have a relationship problem in this chapter! You practically predicted it! Thanks so much for your thoughts, they are so interesting! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you! Ponyhead is such a hilarious character (in small doses) I'm glad you found it funny! **

**RJWritingInk: Their wedding would totally pan out like that. Star and Marco wouldn't be able to control themselves and wait for "You may kiss the bride." **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello again! Thank you for continuing to read my short stories and for following, favoriting, commenting, and most of all reading my story! This chapter will be a bit different, I hope you enjoy it. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of its fun and wonderful characters. **

**17). Quiet-This is a Library! **

Wooly hair blew behind her as she gazed into the horizon. With a sigh, she pulled back her mane into a loose ponytail and frowned in concentration. "Come on. Come on." She whispered under her breath. The young girl narrowed her eyes, willing the spot in front of her to transform. "Come on….Ugh-this is hopeless!"

Kicking at the dirt in front of her, Kelly turned around while blinking back tears. Why did she keep doing this to herself. Knowing nothing had changed, she still looked behind her with hope a portal had opened. Nothing. Nada. Zip. She was stuck on Woolandia.

For the past three months, Kelly had come to the same spot where she suddenly appeared-completely healed from her wound with the Solarian warrior, she might add-after the last battle at the Monster Temple on Mewni. It took her over a day to find Jorby again. And she had no idea if her friends were okay. All she could do was hope.

And come to the spot. Every day.

Kelly glanced around the hairy desert, mounds of hair forming into rolling hills. Reaching into her hair, she dug out her pair of dimensional scissors. Glancing to her left and right to assure herself she was alone, she took the scissors and began trying to cut a hole in the air like she used to do. Effortlessly. A loud swack startled her, as she fumbled with the scissors and shrieked, "I wasn't doing anything!" A bird soared over her head and she let out a sigh.

"Ahh-haha. Close one." Scissors were banned on Woolandia-except by those who pass judgment onto others, like cops, judges, and librarians. Taking a breath to steady herself, she drew out her scissors and concentrated. "Okay, Kelly. You can do this. Just think of Mewni." Closing her eyes, she raised her scissors and began to cut the air…and nothing happened.

"DANG IT!" Winding back her arm, Kelly chunked the scissors far into the desert. She turned and began to stomp off toward her town. After a few seconds, she paused, then raced back to the scissors and picked them up. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to throw you." Slipping them into her hair, she began to race home.

After a good few hair-raising miles, Kelly finally made it to her house. "Hi mom! I'm home!" She called as she shoved her way into her mother's hairy doorway. Once she brushed through into the living room, Kelly kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the couch.

"So this is all that life is good for now." She sighed as she dug under the couch cushion for the remote and flipped on the screen. Three wrestling women were punching each other on the screen. Usually, this would have cheered her up even a little-but today, she had finally reached her limit.

And, evidently, so had her dad.

"Kelly! What is the meaning of this?!" The remote was suddenly swiped from her hand and the screen went blank. Kelly blinked twice and began to punch the air multiple times as if it were the power button of her remote. Suddenly, she was dumped onto her feet. Whipping around, her father was poised, nun chucks at the ready. "You need to get out in the world again!"

Rolling her eyes, Kelly just flopped back onto the couch and groaned. "And you think fighting is going to cheer me up, Dad?! I'm fine. I'm just…bored. All my friends are on other dimensions and I can't get to other dimensions…for some weird reason."

Suddenly, a heavy weight was on top of her and Kelly had to spit out hair from her mouth. "What you need is to do something better with your time. Like learning new fighting styles! Here-let me teach you-"

"Puh-puh-gross, get off me, Dad!" Kelly shoved her father off of her, though any fire to fight him was gone. "I don't need to-" Suddenly, an idea came to her. "Oh, uh, yeah. You're right, Dad." She began to back away toward the front door. "I just gotta go fight it out. You know-learn some new styles. I'm going to the library! Okay, bye!" With a dash, she picked up her shoes and combed her way out of the door.

"Oh…Okay. I'll just fight myself than." Kelly's dad lowered his nun chucks.

"I would fight you, dear." Kelly's mom's voice rung through the house.

"Thank you, dear." He sighed back.

But Kelly didn't hear of that, she was long gone, racing toward the library. Of course-how did she not think of that before! There was bound to be some book on how to get back to Mewni-and why everything was suddenly closed off and how she ended up in the desert!

After a long bus ride and a painful punch to the arm, she arrived at her destination. Perfect…Racing up to the help desk, she noticed the librarian her and Marco had defeated months before for the late fee. Ducking behind a stack of books, she glanced around to see her back turned. Scanning the direction menus on the front of the desk, she looked for- "Interdimensional travel section! Perfect!" Crouching down, she brushed past the desk toward the direction the arrow pointed.

"Dimensional travel, dimensional travel-there is a dimension of cats with human faces? Focus, Kelly. Dimensional travel, Dimensional-here it is!" Brushing her fingers against the spines of the books, Kelly opened both her arms as if to give a big bear hug and scooped up all the books she could hold. And she instantly set off to work. Kelly opened the first page and became absorbed into the pages of the book.

She poured through each page meticulously, soaking in every word, conditioning herself to see things she normally wouldn't see. Though there was so much information-there was still nothing that could help her leave Woolandia without using her broken scissors. Kelly's frustration was growing and growing. She couldn't find anything! Finally, after what felt like hours, she blinked her red eyes and stood up to stretch. Glancing at the clock, she gasped-it had been hours. "Well, no wonder I have to pee…"

"Excuse me-can I fight you for that book you are reading?" A voice chimed up from a nearby chair. Kelly glanced down to see a little old woman who looked vaguely familiar-almost like the lady who Marco offered his seat to on the bus…

"Sorry, I can't-I'm still reading it." Gulping, Kelly realized her mistake before she could stop herself. How could she be so selfish?!

A collective gasp was heard around the library. Many people stood up from their seats, one scooting his so loudly that it screeched then thudded onto the floor. "How could you?!" Someone shouted, shaking his fist into the air. "I'll fight her!" "No-I will!" "I'll fight her for the book! Let me at her!"

"QUIET!" A loud voice rang out! Suddenly, the librarian thundered over to the scene. Her pink hair bopped up and down in her bun, her glasses framing her angry eyes. "This is a Library!" Suddenly, she locked eyes with Kelly. Kelly took a big gulp. "You…." The librarian whispered. With a flash, she whipped out four knives, and gave a battle cry.

With a clash, chaos and books exploded throughout the library. Books and hair went flying. Kelly ducked under a table, grabbing the book-it was the last one. It had to have something! And she had to get out of there. Though her insides were yearning to join the fight, she knew that finding the answers were much more important than getting a black eye in a silly fight. Kelly slipped between two women slapping each other with braids and another man choking the librarian with his beard. The librarian saw Kelly dashing out of the door. "I will get you, Green. You will pay the fee."

Kelly chuckled as she skipped down the stairs and to the park. "Yeah-I'd like to see you try." She smiled (though she didn't realize it was the first smile she had since she arrived back on Woolandia) and sank down onto a park bench. "Okay-now let's-" She paused. This was the bench she and Marco had sat down and learned about Wool-Hair-Do and Dual Mode together.

Her smile instantly sank off her face. Marco. And Star. Pony Head. Janna.

She missed her friends. Kelly sank down and looked sadly at the book in front of her. What was the use-it wasn't like this book would have the answers-nothing so far had-

"Well, hey, Kelly!"

No, no, not him again. Groaning to herself, Kelly glanced up to the tree above her to see none other than Tad, her ex-boyfriend. "TAD! What are you doing here? Well-I guess it's better than being in my hair but still-why are you HERE?"

"Namaste, Kelly." Tad bowed to her from his perch, hair blowing out of his face. "I can see that you are distressed and anxious-something I have long since left behind me now that I have found purpose in life."

"Tad, can you leave me alone? I have purpose-"

"I don't know, Kelly. I've known you for a long time now, and I see that you are not at peace with your inner-self."

"Ugh, what does that even mean, Tad?" Kelly rolled her eyes and frowned at him. She got up to leave but he continued on.

"I have found enlightenment now. I am at peace with nature. I see the balance in the self and in the earth." Tad sighed in content as three baby birds popped out of his hair and began to chirp as their mother flew in with a worm in her mouth. "I am a provider now. I provide a home for life. There is no higher calling."

Kelly resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "If that bird flies away with you then you'd have an even higher calling."

Tad sighed contently as the mother bird began to throw up and bits of worm guts flicked onto his eyebrows. "Sigh. The unbelievers will never understand."

"Did you literally just say 'sigh'? Look, Tad. Leave me alone."

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly." Tad shook his head as a baby bird began to peck near his eye. He winced as its beak poked him in the eye. "You can find inner peace like me if you learn to give instead of receive."

Kelly had had about enough of him at that very moment. "Okay, well, I'm going to GIVE you space. Goodbye, Tad." With that, she thrust the book into her hair and began racing away. Though she didn't want to admit it, Tad's words affected her. She was not at peace with herself. She couldn't find joy in fighting anymore. She felt lost.

And she knew how to get it. (Or, so she thought.)

Finally, after a few miles of nonstop sprinting, Kelly collapsed onto the desert floor at the most familiar spot to her in the world. Panting, she looked up, noticing the sun was slowly beginning to set. Mountains of hair waved in the wind in the distance, a tumble-hair-weed blew past her. Pulling out the book, she began to skim through the remaining pages. Once she reached the last page, she stared blankly at the back cover.

That was it. There was nothing else.

With a shutter, tears began to spill down her face. Kelly rubbed them off her checks but more began to replace them. Without meaning to, Kelly burst into sobs. She tucked herself into her hair, letting her locks become damp. The tears wouldn't stop. And she didn't want them to. She hadn't had a good cry since the first day back on Woolandia. And she finally realized-she wasn't ever going to leave. She was going to be there forever.

Suddenly, Kelly felt herself being jerked into someone's grasp. With a yelp, she pulled back her hair to see Jorby pulling her into a hug with his tail. "Hey Kelly!" He yelped with is barking voice. "Don't cry, Kelly. I got you. Just cry it out."

Standing up, embarrassed to be caught crying, Kelly frowned at him angrily. "Jorby! You just don't get it! We're stuck here! Forever! We are never going to see our friends again or know if they are okay or if Mina was stopped or-"

"I get it. They were my friends too." Jorby ducked his head to the side, his doglike snout frowning sadly. "I miss them too. But you aren't alone, Kelly, like you've been pretending to be for the past three months." He looked back at her. "I'm here, and we can still fight stuff and battle evil librarians and hair minions all day!"

Angrily, Kelly pushed him away and wiped away more tears. They had finally stopped falling. She looked out toward the desert again and sighed. "I'm tired, Jorby."

Suddenly, Kelly was thrown to the ground. Whipping around, she was staring directly into Jorby's eyes. He was glaring down at her, his snout touching her nose and fogging up her glasses. "So what if you're tired! Fight on, Kelly!" Angrily, Kelly kicked up with her legs, catching Jorby in the nose. His head flew backward as she rolled into a crouch. With a scream, Kelly pulled out her ancestral sword and launched herself at Jorby, emotions flying.

Jorby dodged her advances with a growl. Kelly slashed as his claws met her blow for blow. Jorby would swipe at her and she would duck into a roll and pop up to slash at him again. The dance continued on for many minutes when suddenly, Kelly noticed they had an audience. The two slowed to a stop, glancing around them. Though she was panting heavily, a smile was forming again on her face. Jorby noticed this smile but didn't want to comment. He was just glad his best friend was feeling a bit more like herself again.

As they glanced around themselves, Kelly and Jorby noticed they were surrounded by pink, savage Hairballs. The hairballs began to whoop and holler, jumping up and down as they pulled out small knives and bows. Without a word, Kelly and Jorby glanced at each other and nodded. As if in Dual Mode, Kelly jumped onto Jorby's back and raised her sword. With a wide sweep, she blew a path through the hairballs as the fight began.

One by one the hairballs fell, each knocked out or retreating in terror. As they began to fight, Kelly felt her heart begin to lighten. Though she was still sad, she was actually feeling better. She wasn't alone-she had her family and friends. They were going to be okay-and her friends were okay too. Sure, she might miss them but she had people who loved her here too.

Finally, as the last hairball retreated waving a white hairy flag, Jorby and Kelly sank to the ground, exhausted. Kelly leaned against Jorby, feeling his chest heaving as she leaned her back into it. "Whoa." She realized, flinging her arms to the ground. "My dad was right. I just needed a good fight." She turned to smile at Jorby, who gave her one in return. "And a good friend to talk to. And…weirdly, Tad too."  
"Ugh. Don't tell me you're back with him again." Jorby sighed, causing Kelly to laugh and shake her head no. Yeah-like that would ever happen.

"I still miss our friends." She sighed as she pulled out the scissors from her hair. She smiled wistfully at them as she replaced them. She knew just the place to keep him at her house-and not in her hair to use every day.

"I do too." Jorby smiled at her. "But at least we have each other."

Kelly smiled at him, then stood up and began to clap the leftover hair off her hands. "Come on. I have to return a library book."

The smile on Jorby's face instantly fell, his eyes going big "Seriously? We got to go to the library? Kelly…LET'S DO THIS! WAR CRY!"

With a laugh, Kelly jumped onto his back and the pair rode off into the sunset, ready for whatever new adventures awaited them.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt that something different would be fun, plus we didn't ever get to truly see how they reacted. I wanted to use that snippet that Ponyhead talked about in the finale of how the others were doing in their dimensions so I took that last scene with Kelly and Jorby and used it in this story with her fighting those hairball things. Plus, another thing I wanted to convey (I'm not sure accurately I did) was that bad things happen and it is okay to be sad. People may not always understand but eventually things will get better. Just find the ones that love and support you. It won't be instantaneous or anything but things will get better. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think-and thank you again for reading! Until next time! **

**SugarQueen97: Thank you for your honest feedback about the last chapter. I hadn't really thought of it that way, I really appreciate you bringing that to my attention. The goal was to keep it true to how the show presented the characters-which now that I think about it, Star doesn't really apologize a lot and Janna can be a bit of a bully. Thank you for letting me know, I really appreciate your thoughts! I will try to avoid that in future writing. **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much! I am glad you like the part about the Apology meat-that is something that was so random in the show but I loved it! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello again! Thank you for coming back to read my series of short stories about Life on Earthni. Thank you for commenting, following, favoriting, and most of all reading. I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Sadly, I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of its amazing characters. **

**18). Ramblings of an old king **

"How long do we have to be here again?" Tommy asked, crossing his arms and huffing. "I'm too old to hang out with those babies. Plus-have you met Uncle Globgor? He only tells super boring long stories" Shaking his blonde hair out of his eyes, he glanced up at his parents getting ready to leave. Star and Marco were quickly putting on their coats before looking down at their teenage son. His younger twin siblings rolled their eyes as they looked at their compact mirror phones, telling their friends they weren't going to the Monster Roller Derby.

"Oh, come on, Tommy. Your mom and I have to go to date night-I mean, it's been waaay too long and, well, yeah. Plus, have you met your Grandpa River? Talk about rambling old king stories." Marco glanced at his wife who was glaring at him through narrowed eyes. He gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ummm…Just be a good example for your little cousins. They look up to you." Marco smiled, looking more and more like his dad every day. Quickly giving him a kiss on the cheek, Star continued on for him. "Yeah, they look up to you."

Rolling his eyes, he snorted. "They're short. They all look up to me. Besides-we aren't even related to them, right? Eclipsa-"

"Ohhh, if it isn't my favorite nephew!" The melodic voice rang softly as the sound of feet pounding down the castle stairs filled the room. The group turned to see Globgor walking to meet them. Some wrinkles etched his face but he otherwise looked untouched by time. Comet and Cassie immediately laughed while putting away their compacts and jumped to hug the old king. Tommy sighed and slowly walked up to them. "Hey, Uncle Globgor. Did you do something to your…fangs?"

Cassie elbowed him in the gut, glaring up at him. For a thirteen-year old girl, she sure had some strength in her elbows. Cassie smiled sweetly up at Globgor, smoothing down her narwhal skirt she inherited from her mother. "Hi, Uncle Globgor. Mom and Dad-" She turned to look at her parents, but they had suddenly disappeared. "Huh…guess they left. So…" Turning back to her 'uncle', she smiled again. "So, what are we gonna do today?"

A twinkle formed in Globgor's eye as he began to smile. Right when he opened his mouth, loud shrieks resounded through the hall as four small children suddenly flashed in front of the group. The pack of pre-school age kids jerked to a halt as the impromptu sled made out of plastic slammed into the wall. The line of Baby Bog Dragons that were pulling the sled scrambled free, plumes of fire flashing out of their mouths. The four children began to giggle before wiggling up and racing to the teenagers and old monster king. "Uncle Comet! Auntie Cassie! Uncle Tom Tom!" Two of the children were indeed their nephews Jesus and Juan, Mariposa and her spouse's kids. The other two children were Meteora and her husband's twins Solaria and Globgor Jr.

With a chuckle, Globgor grew three sizes bigger and scooped up all the children, each one giggling and shrieking to get away. "Wow, you all look good enough to eat! Solaria-your horns look delicious." Solaria moaned and pushed away as Globgor began to kiss her repeatedly on the head. With a huff, Tommy rolled his eyes and turned away. Couldn't they do something interesting for once-

"Tell us a story! Tell us a story, Grandpapa Globgor!" Globgor Jr. threw his hands in the air as Globgor set the kids on the ground.

"Well, what kind of story would you like to hear? Romance? Action? Adventure? SCARY?" He acted out each genre, roaring at the children on the last one. This left the children in a fit of giggles and shrieks.

Cassie and Comet plopped down on the floor behind their niece and nephews, crossing their legs. Cassie pulled Juan into her lap as she looked expectantly at her Uncle Globgor. Tommy groaned to himself and threw his head back in annoyance. Could this be any more annoying? Another story?

"It seems someone is an unbeliever in epic stories."

Snapping his eyes open, Tommy looked at everyone turned around, staring at him with frowns. Globgor had a funny look in his eye as he smiled at the sixteen-year old boy. "Uhh, did I just groan out loud?"

Gesturing to the floor in front of him, Globgor sat down on the steps of the stairs and leaned forward. "I can tell you a story with all of these things. Action. Horror. Romance." The children all stuck out their tongues at this and Globgor chuckled. He looked over at Tommy as he sat down with a frown. "Oh yes-I have the best story. The story…of How I Met Your Grandmother."

"Isn't that a TV show?"

"I don't know what you are talking about-but the last episode of that show ruined it." Globgor hunched forward, smiling at the children in front of him. Tommy furrowed his brow-well, at least this was less boring than watching his nephews play patty-cake for three hours. "Once, a long, long time ago-there was a young monster king."

"Was he a kind monster king?"

"Do you want him to tell the story or not?"

"…"

Chuckling, he continued, ignoring Juan and Comet's outburst. "As I was saying. There was a kind, young monster king who was just minding his own business one day. It was just before his fifteenth Stump Day as he was walking down the village street when suddenly he was kicked from behind. As the courageous king whirled around to see his adversary, the most beautiful, song-like voice range through the air." Globgor sighed in contentment, causing Comet to fake gag. "A young girl the same age as Cassie was holding me at sword-point with perfect form. The spades on her cheeks were gorgeous and highlighted her eyes. Eyes that were full of blood-lust. And I would know a thing about blood-lust, as I used to eat Mewmans." The kids giggled nervously while the teenagers glanced at one another in confusion, wondering why their vegetarian uncle would say a thing like that. Globgor awkwardly chuckled and continued on.

"Well, I feel like there is something I'm missing. Something important… Anyway, this beautiful warrior began to fight this valiant monster king." Globgor began to weave a tale, the children all beginning to lean in.

" 'Fight me, you vile monster!' The young princess cried, slashing her sword. The young monster king was so taken with this young maiden that the barely raised his claws to stop the sword in time. Wow-what am I missing? As I was saying, the young monster king realized that there was something different about this warrior. She seemed to be glowing with-oh…" Globgor's eyes grew huge.

"Uhhh, something wrong, Uncle Globgor?" Cassie squeezed Juan closer to her chest.

Shaking his head, Globgor frowned and shook his head. "No, my dear. I just remember what I had forgotten…So, the village was on fire." The group blinked at him and Globgor chuckled awkwardly. "Yes. An important detail to remember. I'm sorry. Let me continue…Ahh, yes…The princess and the monster."

"So the princess noticed how the monster wouldn't fight her. "Why don't you fight back, you coward?' The princess used her mother's words, trying to get into the monster's head-which she only did at a later time when he was crystallized. 'You destroyed this village, you monster!' The king swiped his leg and tripped the princess to fall onto her back. The king caught the princess before she hit the ground, staring into her eyes. The fire cascaded around the pair in the shape of a heart. The flames of love were being fanned-as your father Marco would say.

"The monster king was instantly taken by the young warrior, so he used his mastery of flirtation and suave nature. But…the king still had a lot to learn. 'It seems I have swept you off your feet. Our love connection is so hot, it must have set this village on fire.' Well…you can guess how the warrior princess responded. Actually, it was her mother who set the village on fire-but in the moment the comment seemed appropriate. But when wooing a beautiful woman-you mustn't come on too strong. Like the young monster king.

"As the monster king gave the princess an irresistible smile-trust me, he had an irresistible smile-she narrowed her beautiful eyes and suddenly the world flipped over. The next thing the young king knew, the princess was standing over her, sword pointed at his face. 'You shall regret that, monster!' The monster king suddenly shrunk in size as the sword came down toward where his face had been moments before. The princess gasped in surprise, looking around and not seeing the monster to any avail. But as she turned around, she noticed a scribbled, hasty handwriting in the dirt behind her. Oh yes-the monster king had moves. He left a hand-drawn rose and his name in the dirt. And that is how I met your Grandmother."

The room went quiet. The kids all had frowns on their faces and the teens glanced at one another. "That's it?" Tommy cocked his head to the side, confused as crossed her arms across his chest. "That's, like-super boring. Plus, she didn't even like you. You did not have game."

"What?" Globgor thrust his hands in front of him, pretending to be insulted. "I am the one who invented game! Have you not seen my wife?"

"Grandpapa! What happened next?" Jesus thrust his arms into the air, eyes big as dinner plates. He leaned forward, hugging his knees to himself.

"Tell us tell us tell us!" Solaria and Globgor Jr. cheered, wiggling around on either side of Comet. Comet, Cassie, Jesus, and Juan all joined in. "Tell us tell us tell us!" Rolling his eyes, Tommy began to cheerlessly pump his fist with his siblings and nephews.

Laughing deeply, Globgor leaned forward, his fangs gleaming in the light. "Haha, if you insist." Shrinking down, he leapt onto his grandson's shoulder and rested his elbows on his head, eliciting a giggle. "So…where was I…Oh yes. So it is true, the princess did not exactly fall for the monster king as quickly as he initially led his family to believe-but like he said-he was irresistible and invented game." (Tom and Comet coughed 'Yeet!') "Anyway, it was a long time before the young king and the princess met again. Using his amazing size-changing ability, the king would regularly…visit the Butterfly Castle. The king couldn't go to the Mewman settlements because Monsters and Mewmans were always fighting.

"Now the princess had a balcony in her bedroom that looked over the Palace Rose Garden. Every night, she would wait outside her window and look longingly at the roses below. Now, though she would never admit it, the warrior princess would stare and reminisce about the monster who had drawn her a rose during a battle."

"I kind of doubt that." Tommy huffed, earning another nudge in his ribs from his sister.

"As I was saying-the princess would watch the roses each night. And each night the monster king would sneak to try to talk with the princess. He tried to strike up the courage to speak with her again." Globgor sighed as he leapt off his grandson and grew back into his normal size sitting down in front of the group with a wistful sigh. "It was a magical time."

Cassie blinked, holding up her hands in a 'whoa' motion. "Wait. You stalked Aunt Eclipsa?"

"What? NO! I wanted to speak with her again. But it was forbidden-so I would try to talk with her alone but was unable to do so. Now, let me finish my story!" Globgor shifted to face his family. "So-each night she would look over the rose garden. The third time the young king visited ('Snuck in' Comet coughed) the castle in my small size, he decided it was time to make his move. So-naturally-it went terribly.

"The young ruler climbed up the rose bushes to the warrior's window and hopped onto the window seal. The amazing romancer that he was, he plucked a rose and took a deep breath to prepare himself to speak with the young maiden. As he coughed to announce his entrance, the young princess whirled around-to reveal she had inherited the magical wand. Now the magical wand had amazing properties and the princess who wielded it would use the magic to rule her kingdom. So, when the young king coughed and said 'Hello. A rose for a rose', the princess…for a lack of a better word-blasted the young king off the window seal and down onto the ground below."

The group groaned in unison, grimacing with Globgor as he remembered the fall as if it were yesterday. "Yes, it was rather painful. So, the princess used her magical wand that was shaped not unlike an umbrella to fall down to the ground and stand furiously over the monster. 'Monster! What are you doing here? I should warn the guards-they could kill you where you stand-well, lay.' The monster king groaned and said, 'Well, they could at least put me out of my misery. And I have a name you know. It's Globgor.' The princess huffed but lent her hand to the king to help him sit up. 'I could have killed you-Globgor was it-if I wanted to. You shouldn't be here. Now get out before anyone sees you-especially my mother.' The warrior shuttered, shaking her head and straightening up to face the monster with squared shoulders.

"Now the young king was puzzled. If she was such a powerful, magical princess, why didn't she just cast a spell on him that instant and be done with it? So, the king-rather stupidly-asked that same question aloud. The princess got a funny look on her face, as if she was insulted. After that, the next few minutes become hazy. The next thing the king remembered was blinking rapidly and waking up in the Forest of Certain Death with the princess floating away on her umbrella wand back toward the Butterfly Castle."

"So, what you're saying is-you never had game." Comet and Tommy high-fived with a laugh.

Cassie, however, rolled her eyes and frowned. "They did get married and are still in love, so obviously he had to have some game, right Uncle Globgor?"

"Right you are, my dear!" Globgor smiled, grabbing Globgor Jr. and hugging him with a squeeze before putting him back down. "And so-the young king would regularly visit the princess, visiting the castle in his small form and leaving her different types of roses and artwork created by monsters. Though the princess never saw the young monster, she knew the gifts were from him. And she began to see that monsters didn't create destruction-they created things of beauty too. Like the gifts.

"Finally, after three moons-well, on Earthni we call them months-the princess finally came to the monster king. As he was casually strolling down the path in the Forest of Certain Death to the castle with another gift for the young princess, he realized that the warrior lady was standing right in the middle of the path, waiting for him with hands on her hips. 'There you are.' She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at him. The heart of the young king soared, but he hid the gift behind his back. 'Ahh, hello there, Princess. What brings you here to this…forest on this enchanting evening?' 'I have a name you know-it's Eclipsa.' The princess straightened her shoulders and stared determinedly at the young king. 'Now-why do you keep leaving these…things every night. Not that I am complaining-mind you-they are beautiful…but you must stop leaving them. Someone will eventually catch you.'

"The young king decided to use his irresistible charm on the young maiden. 'Are you worried about me, Eclipsa?' The warrior princess seemed to get frustrated and her face became red as a tomato. Her spades on her checks grew darker, even in the Mewman moonlight. 'Of course not. Just-it would cause quite a lot of ruckus if you continue to come to my quarters each night.' While the young king was unsure what to say, the princess suddenly dashed up to the king and placed a chaste kiss upon his check. Before the monster king could react, the princess was already gone. However-she left a small gift at his feet-a small rose from her garden with a red ribbon tied around the stem.

"And so, children, that is how I met your Grandmother." With a toothy grin, Globgor straightened up, groaning as he popped his back. Pensively, he tapped his check with one hand and held his lower back with the other. "Or was that our third date? They all run together after a while…"

Solaria, Juan, and Globgor Jr. all cheered, springing up and dancing around the old king. Jesus threw himself onto the stone floor, looking completely wiped out. The three toddlers cheered 'Do it again. Do it again."

Tommy, Cassie, and Comet looked at one another before turning to their uncle. "So, how did you end up together? Mom said something about mom being married to someone else and leaving you and being frozen in crystals for hundreds of years or something like that." Tommy crossed his arms across his chest, leaning forward to learn more.

"Oh, so now you're interested?" Cassie chided, frowning at her brother. Tommy shrugged, awkwardly not sure how to respond. He did have a lot of his dad in him…

A door swung open to the left, and Solaria and Globgor Jr. shrieked and dashed toward the person emerging. Eclipsa smiled as she shashayed in, looking around at the group with a small smile. "Oh-did I miss an invitation?"

"Grandpapa was telling us a story!" Solaria giggled, whirling around her grandmother.

"Yeah-he was telling us all about how you met and you burnt a village down for love and fought and he brought you gifts and you were frozen forever and now are in love. YAY!" Globgor Jr. threw his hands into the air, his red-tinted skin making him look just like his grandpa.

Eclipsa glanced at her husband with an amused smile before turning to the children. "Well, now, what your grandfather just told you was only part of the story." She gestured to the seat next to Globgor on the floor as the children sat down in front of her. Tommy smiled-maybe this day wouldn't be as boring as he thought after all. "Now." Eclipsa smiled, small wrinkles forming around her eyes as she held Globgor's hand happily. "Let me tell you the interesting part of the story."

**Thank you again for reading my story. Honestly, I just wanted to think about how Globgor and Eclipsa met. Also, it was fun to do a bit of How I Met Your Mother (which I do not own either.) They never go into how Eclipsa and Globgor met, but it seems like this could be something that is plausible-they both change each other for the better and meet in secret and fell in love slowly-though knowing Globgor as being such a romantic, he would definitely fall hard quickly. They also met during a war between monsters and Mewmans, so it would be hard for them to warm up to one another and get past prejudices and preconceived bias. I also wasn't sure how to do a story with their backstory while fitting it into Earthni without flashbacks so I decided to go the storytelling route. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter. Thank you again for reading! Until next time! **

**SugarQueen97: Thank you for reviewing my story honestly! I love both positive and constructive criticism. And now that you have pointed that out to me, I am now more aware and see the stories that 'girls can never do wrong' trope which isn't healthy. And yay-I'm glad you liked the chapter on Kelly and Jorby, they are such good friends and didn't get as much time to shine as they should have in the show. Spin-off anyone? **

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your review. So glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter too. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Welcome back everyone! I hope you are all well and healthy. Thank you again for coming back to this fun series of stories. I realized that I hadn't done one about Star or Marco recently, but Marco as a knight is just so fun. Anyway, I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil or any of its amazing and colorful characters. **

**19). Sir Marco the Quitter **

Taking a deep breath, Marco slowly let it out through his mouth to study himself. "Okay, Diaz. You got this. You've been studying every day for five months straight. Just-be cool." Taking another deep breath, Marco began to walk up the steps toward the police academy. He tugged on the door, realizing that it wasn't opening. Marco paused, frowning slightly. He tugged again. It still wouldn't open. "Ahh, come on." Suddenly, he began to frantically pull on the door, tugging again and again, using his whole body to pull.

With a bang, the door finally flew open, slamming again the wall. The receptionist, a monster with tall horns, stared blankly at him, her eyes glazed. Marco grew extremely red. He awkwardly chuckled as he quietly pulled the door shut behind him. "It was push." The woman muttered in a monotone. Marco apologized and slowly walked up to the front desk.

"Sorry. Sorry. I can pay for that."

"It'll be $650."

"Ugh…why am I not surprised." Shaking his head, he wrote down his phone number and handed it to the monster. "Just-call me when I need to pay it. Anyway-Marco Diaz-Butterfly. I'm checking in for the Police Academy Exam."

The monster blinked blankly again, slowly pulling out her checklist and looking down his name. "Diaz-Butterfly? I only have a Diaz listed."

Marco smiled goofily, pulling out his hand from his pocket to flash his wedding band. "Haha, I got married a couple months ago. I signed up for the exam before I was married."

"Wow. Congratulations." There was no authenticity in her voice but Marco just ignored it. He took the testing materials from her wordlessly and walked toward the exam room. As he began to walk toward the room, his heart began to thud rapidly. Quickly, he stopped in front of the door again. "Don't break that one too." The voice of the receptionist rang out. Marco groaned and gently pulled open the door before he slipped in.

Taking a seat near the front, Marco nervously strummed the table, while shaking his knee rapidly up and down. Finally, he couldn't stand waiting anymore and fumbled for something in his pocket. Quickly, he pulled out a folded-up pink card and rapidly unfolded it, a smile forming on his face. An explosion of color and glitter filled his eyes as the good luck card Star had made him opened. The words "Good Luck-You'll Hit The Target" showed in front of him, cartoon police porcupines wearing sunglasses and shooting glitter guns posed around the letter. Marco smiled as he fingered the letter, his heart soaring. He really was a lucky-

"That your homework, Marco? Or is joining the Earthni Police Force a joke to you?"

Straightening up, Marco jolted around and shoved his letter into his pocket. "Seriously-what are you doing here?" Marco fought down the urge to punch. Very few people could elicit that emotion from him.

But Higgs was one of those people.

Higgs smirked down at Marco, crossing her arms. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm here to stomp you in this exam. But I at least will pass it by myself, unlike some nepotism loving human."

"Higgs, everyone knows that humans and Mewmans are the same species."

"That's just lies the government feed you so they can control you."

Rolling his eyes, Marco turned back around, noticing the test was beginning to be passed out. Ignoring the scraping of the chair directly behind him, Marco frowned and tried to concentrate. He was going to ace this test-nothing could stop him from-

"Hey Diaz." Higgs whispered behind him, her voice full of venom. "Better not get your hopes too high up-you don't have a princess to buy your way in like you did as a squire."

Angrily, Marco whipped around with his mouth open when a hand slammed down a paper in front of him. Flustered, he looked up to see the proctor staring down at him with narrowed eyes. Gulping, he turned back around and picked up his pencil. He could hear Higgs snickering behind him. Taking a big breath and shoving his hand into his pocket one more time to squeeze the letter, Marco began to write.

The words swam in his vision. Marco began to sweat in his armpits. He quietly fanned himself as he continued on with the exam. Soon, the humans, Mewmans, and monsters around him were finishing their exam and walking it to the front. Panicked, Marco began to madly fill out answers. He paused, realizing that he couldn't have another 'Picture of Marco Gray' moment like with is mother's baby shower, so he took a breath to steady himself. He continued to concentrate, assessing each question before choosing the best answer. Finally, after what seemed mere seconds, the timer buzzed in the front. The proctor, a Mewman who still was a bit shaky on technology even after eight years of Earthni, slammed the alarm while screaming about a possessed clock.

A feeling of failure washed over Marco-he wasn't ready. "Five more minutes? I just need to recheck the question on-" But before he could finish, the proctor snatched up his exam, eyes narrowed at the young man. "Oh, okay then. Guess I'm done now." Marco sucked in a breath and walked out toward the exit. Just as he was pulling open the door (the receptionist reminded him not to break it again) he smacked headlong into Higgs. The red-headed woman smirked as she watched Marco pull himself up off the ground, rubbing his nose.

"So Marco, did you make a zero or a negative on the test?"

Balling his hands into fists, Marco frowned at her. "I totally passed. You're just jealous that I was knighted five times in the Neverzone and you were only knighted once." Blinking twice, Higgs stared at him with a blank face. "Ugh…Heckapoo's dimension. The one with the abs?"

With a snort, Higgs crossed her arms and began to walk away. "Whatever, you're still going to fail. See you at training, 'Sir Marco'. Oh wait-no I won't." With a laugh, she walked away down the street. Rolling his eyes, Marco turned around and began to walk home. Despite knowing he did his best, he felt like he was a failure. Something didn't feel right. He just knew that he had failed the test-and it wasn't just Higgs talking in his brain. Though-it did sound a lot like her voice to him.

Finally, Marco made it to his house. As he opened his front door, the smell of burnt cooking filled his nose. "Oh no…" He dashed into the kitchen to see Star hard at work. Well, hard at work reading a magazine as the food burned on the stove behind her but still. "STAR!" Perking up, Star smiled at Marco until she noticed his horrified face. Whirling around, she saw what he saw.

"OH CORN! THE FOOD IS ON FIRE!" Leaping into action, the ex-princess grabbed a pot holder and placed it over the flames in the pot to smother it. She then turned off the stove and whirled around to smile at him. "Hehe-surprise! I cooked dinner to celebrate your big exam!" Despite himself, Marco had to smile at his wife. (It still gave him butterflies in his stomach to think that she was his wife.) "So-how did it go?! Did you totally nail the target?" She pointed her fingers like a gun and pretended to shoot something.

The smile slowly feel off of his face and Marco shook his head. Star straightened up and cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong? Did everything go okay?"

Before he could stop himself, the words tumbled out of his mouth. "I totally failed it and I am never going to be a cop and I should just quit now!" He ducked his chin into his chest, unable to look at Star. Silence permeated the room. Awkwardly, Marco looked back up to see Star glaring at him with a furrowed brow.

"MARCO! How could you say that?! You are totally going to be a cop and you should not quit now when you are so close!" Star crossed her arms and tightened her lips, looking startlingly like her mother in that moment. "Are you Sir Marco the Quitter? Or are you Sir Marco the Valiant? The Loyal? The Brave?" Taking a step toward him, she placed a finger under his chin and turned his face to look at her. Blue eyes met brown as Star let a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. "Marco, you are the most amazing person I have ever met. And I've met Milly Sparkles!"

Marco gave her a smile in return. Star's eyes sparked as her smile grew even bigger. "Wow. Milly Sparkles, Owner of the Bounce Lounge. You must really think I'm amazing."

Giving him a friendly shove in the shoulder, Star giggled and turned to pull the rest of dinner of the stove. "Shut up. Well, I made dinner-"

"Yeah, let's go out."

"HEY! Yeah…and we can go see your results on the way to dinner!"

The couple laughed as they made their way through the town hand in hand. While this was nothing new to anyone in Echo Creek, it still felt surreal to the two lovers. Star did everything in her power to keep Marco's mind off the exam results. She told about her day in school and how learning to be a lawyer on Earth was completely different than on Mewni-you couldn't just be born one. Marco laughed at a joke Star said about Prince Rich Pigeon when suddenly they heard a cry for help in front of them.

Turning quickly toward the noise, Marco realized the commotion was coming from an alleyway nearby. The couple saw a group of five Mewmans standing in a circle around a shorter monster who resembled a turtle. The turtle monster was shaking his hands in front of himself as he tried to ward off the group. "Look now-I don't want any trouble!"

"Aren't turtles a little slow, Rex?" One of the smaller Mewmans chuckled, cracking his knuckles as he examined the lonely monster.

The biggest Mewman, the pudgy looking man named Rex, flashed an evil grin. "Let's see how fast he is if we take his shell from him. It has to be heavy."

"No-wait-don't"

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The group turned around to see Star and Marco dashing up to them. Marco pulled back his fist, standing in a karate pose. Star stood to his left, a knowing smirk on her face as she got into a fighting pose as well. Though they weren't going to attack first, they wanted to intimidate the group to stop bullying the monster man. Marco flashed a smile at the group, who bristled at them. It was like old times, fighting monsters and pranking Ludo. "Who do you think you are-bossing us around?!" The lead Mewman, Rex, snorted and spat out a nasty looking boogey. "Wait…Ahh, look. You have the monster-lover princess and her…who are you exactly? Whatever-get 'em!"

The group of Mewmans leapt at the couple. Well-they asked for it. The turtle monster ducked into his shell as the pair sprang into action. Marco went low as Star went high, leaping over her husband and yanking one Mewman's arm behind his back. As he let out a yelp, Star noticed another one coming from behind her. She smirked and swirled around, thrusting her prisoner into the charging man. Both went down with a thud. Satisfied, she glanced over at her husband, who was holding his own-which, as a knight, of course he could.

Marco was facing off the other three Mewmans. He karate-chopped one in the face while he backward head-butted another in the nose. The Mewman grasped his nose in pain, tears springing from his eyes as Marco whirled around and swept his feet out from under him. In the same movement, he caught the one he had karate-chopped before he hit the ground. Ducking into a backward roll, Marco used his momentum to toss the poor fellow over himself and used his legs to kick him into his friend. Both went down with wails of pain. Marco sprang up and looked at Star. Their eyes met and both burst into large grins-who said old married people were lame?

In sync, the couple turned and faced off Rex. The Mewman stared at them gapping. A fly flew into his mouth and the group leader gagged, coughing on the insect. He waved his hand in front of him as he hacked away, eyes watering. Marco and Star glanced at one another before falling into a fit of giggles. Suddenly, he straightened up, face red as he gestured to his fallen comrades. "Get up." He wheezed, gesturing for the four injured Mewmans to get up. They all groaned but slowly got up and walked away. "You were lucky I didn't fight you. You're not worth it." He coughed again as the gang slowly walked away.

Marco wearily watched them turn the corner before Star tackled him into a big hug, kissing him multiple times on the check. "That was amazing! You were amazing! We were amazing! Man-I forgot how much I love kicking people's butt!" Marco smiled and whirled her around, before remembering the poor monster who was being hassled. He turned and looked at the monster, who was eyeing them nervously.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah-my husband totally saved you because he's a cop!"

"Star-don't lie to him."

"I'm not!"

"Thanks or whatever." The turtle monster shrugged his shoulders ungratefully, (which made his shell go up and down) before slowly turning around and walking away.

With a grunt, Marco shrugged and muttered, "Well, that seems about right." But his thoughts were interrupted again as Star tackled him into another hug. She gave him a smile as she pulled away, making his heart tug.

"See Marco? You make a difference in people's lives-even when people don't care or thank you. You really are the most amazing person I have ever met-because you care. And that's why you passed your test."

Blinking twice, Marco frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Umm, what?"

A cocky smile grew on Star's face as she tossed her hair and turned to the side. "No big deal. You just passed your exam is all."

Now Marco was really confused. "Okay-how would you know that?" With a giggle, Star pulled out her phone and showed it to Marco. In a text from Janna, she showed a picture taken of his results-which read Marco Diaz-Butterfly: Perfect Score.

"See Marco? You were so nervous over the test that I had to do something. But when I saw how down you were-I realized that I had to get you out of your funk. Soooo, I asked Janna to steal the test results while I was cooking!"

A small smile was slowly building on Marco's lips as he looked at his wife. Though he was still processing, a weight he didn't realize he had was lifted off his shoulders. "I'm not sure I would call that cooking…" He paused as Star frowned and crossed her arms, pretending to be hurt. "But I passed…I passed! I PASSED! I'M GONNA BE A COP!" With a whoop, Marco took Star around the waist and twirled her into the street. A car swerved around them and honked their horn, the driver yelling something about blind idiots but Marco didn't care. He was gonna be a cop! "YOU'RE THE BEST WIFE EVER! I LOVE YOU STAR!"

With a giggle, Star gently gestured for Marco to let her down. "We should celebrate!" She declared, pulling out her most regal princess face she could muster. "I decree that we shall dine on Emilio's Pizza, in honor of Sir Marco the Cop!" With a gasp, she raised a hand to her mouth in surprise. "WAIT! We could make a TV show about you. Cop shows are the new telenovelas! OH! WE COULD STAR IN IT!"

"YEAH!" Marco exclaimed getting excited.

"And we could use real-life footage of us taking down bad guys!"

"YEAH!"

"Oh, and Ponyhead could produce it!"

"Yeah…I'm gonna pass."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was just something goofy and fun-loving for a time that seems dark and fearful. Even though there are scary things going out in the world, remember to find light and joy in these times-much like Star and Marco do. But please stay safe aw well. Anyway, thank you again for commenting, favoriting, following, and reading my fun story. Please let me know what you thought of this random chapter. Until next time! **

**Sugar: Yes-I took a bit of a page from How I Met Your Mother when it comes to forgetting important details. In the show, he is always missing something and has to go back and remember how it relates to the story. Also-I think they would have kids. I picture Janna having a really girlie girl daughter and she is horrified by it and another one who is just like her. Thank you again for reading and letting me know what you think. I really appreciate it! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much. I so appreciate how you are so faithful with your reviews, you are a real encouragement!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello again! Thank you for coming back to my series of short stories about life for Star and Marco after Earth and Mewni cleaved together. I hope you have been enjoying something fun-loving and a bit frivolous. It is kind of nice to write something that is light hearted-especially during a time like this. I hope this next story is a good break from the hectic, crazy world for a few minutes. Thank you again for reading. I do not own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**20). Tease **

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! I'M SO EXCITED!" Star was literally jumping up and down in her seat as she waited for the show to start.

"Yeah? It is just a bunch of dumb tricks. It's always a mirror." Janna murmured under her breath as she stared at her phone. "Trust me, this is going to be boring."

Star waved her hand at Janna to show she was ignoring her, nudging Tom in the ribs instead. "Ahh, come on, Tom. You are totally excited, right?"

Tom blinked, as if he suddenly realized someone was talking to him. "Huh? Oh yeah-sure, sure, sure. I'll switch seats with you." He scooped up Star's hand, twirled her out of her seat, and sank down in the chair next to Janna. A satisfied smirk broke his lips as he grinned at Janna. "So Janna-how's it going? Excited for this magic show?"

"Didn't I just tell you? It's dumb. It was nothing compared to real magic. Or my own book of spells." Janna shrugged, not taking her eyes off her phone. Tom blinked, unsure how to respond to her. Star shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I know there is no magic anymore, Janna-but isn't Echo Creek University awesome for putting on a magic show?! I'm just sad Marco wasn't able to make it…" Star shook her head, realizing that Janna was ignoring Tom who was ignoring her. With a huff, she turned back to the stage, waiting for the spectacular event to start. The lights slowly began to dim. Star felt her pulse rising-this was it! Finally-after four years of no magic, things were about to get-

"I'm gonna get some snacks!" Tom jolted up from his seat, looking awkward as if he was channeling Marco. "Janna-" Tom's voice cracked. His checks reddened but he coughed into his hand and continued, "oh, and I guess you Star too…want any snacks? I've got a hankering for a flaming burrito!"

Janna finally glanced up at the half-demon prince, an eyebrow raised. She caught Star's eye, who just shrugged her shoulders. "What is a flaming burrito?"

"You know! A burrito on fire? It's the biggest delicacy in the Underworld!"

"Riiiiiiiight." Star narrowed her eyes at Tom. Why was he being so weird? There weren't flaming burritos where he came from, so why was he being-"JANNA!" Star flung her hands out, accidentally punching Tom in the stomach. He leaned over, glaring at her with all three eyes narrowed. "Uhhhh-of course! Three flaming burritos, Tom!" Star beamed at him, giving him a subtle wink whenever Janna turned back to her phone. "'Kay, thanks-byeeeeee!"

Nodding in thanks to Star, he walked away just as the lights went black. All thoughts of Tom and burritos fled Star's mind as she squealed in delight. Everyone around her shushed her, but she didn't care. It was time for a little bit of magic.

"Welcome to the Magic Extravaganza of World Renowned Magician-Abra KaWowYa!"

Janna snorted as a tall man with a curly mustache danced onto the stage. He waved a black magic wand, causing Star to shriek in excitement. "Abra Ka-Wow-Ya? Lame." Janna snorted but Star shushed her again as the magician first brought out a hat. He tapped the hat two twice and showed the crowd it was empty. He flipped it over twice, called "Abra KaWowYa" and suddenly pulled out a rabbit from his hat.

Star called out in surprise, eyes wide as she stood up. "How did he do that?! Is it real magic? I thought I destroyed-"

"Chill, Star. It is a paper rabbit. Not real. Man, where's Tom with the burritos?"

With a frown, Star slowly sat down, fighting back annoyance at Janna. Fine-so it isn't real magic. That doesn't mean she can't enjoy the show like everyone else. "And for my next trick, I'll need a volunteer from the audience." The magician reached out a hand toward the audience as the crowd began to cheer. Many people called out to him-though one louder than everyone else.

"ME! ME! ME! PICK ME!" Star flung her arms in the air, waving them back and forth.

"Come on down, little lady!" Suddenly, a wave of black hair whipped Star in the face as the girl in front of Star was picked. Star gasped and knitted her brows together. Seriously? Her?

"What's your name?"

"Brittany. Brittany Wong." With a wink down at Star, Brittany smirked back at Abra. "My father, who donates a lot of money to this university, would like me to personally say you're welcome for getting the privilege to pick me as your assistant." She flipped her hair again.

The magician blinked, then pulled Brittany to a box on stage and shut her into the box. Star was glued to the trick as he brought out a saw and began to saw Brittany in half. "OH MY GOSH! JANNA! WE HAVE TO HELP BRITTANY-"

"Yo, Star! Chill-there's another girl in the other box. Besides, we all know that Brittany wears closed toed shoes due to the warts on her feet."

"But how would you know she-"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to, Star."

As the crowd burst into applause at the end of the trick, Brittany sashayed down the stairs back to her seat. As she sat down, she whipped around and black hair flew into Star's mouth. Janna didn't even look up from her phone and muttered, "Rude."

One corner of her mouth upturned, Brittany smirked at Star. "Oh, are you sad he didn't pick you for his little trick? He only picks pretty girls-he doesn't pick girls that are weird and ugly." Star's heart fell into her stomach. Weird? Ugly? Her mouth hung slightly open as a sharp pain began to tug at her chest. Even Janna slowly looked up from her phone, a look of complete anger on her face. Brittany shrugged her shoulders, tapping Star's knee. "What? I was just teasing. Learn to take a joke, Princess." Nonchalantly, she got out a compact mirror to check her makeup and gasped. "Ugh-that dumb magician smudged my eyeliner!" Brittany sprang up, blocking the magicians new trick with a water tank and chains as she bolted toward the exit.

"Star, don't listen to her. You're the coolest girl ever. Brittany is an idiot and just jealous. The magician just picks bimbos anyway." Janna nudged Star in the ribs. Star gave her a weak, watery smile and nodded. Satisfied, Janna looked back onto her phone. "Oh, and there is a secret tube that gives him air in the tank."

"Hehe, cool. Breathing is…cool." Though she wanted to believe Janna, Star felt odd. Something just didn't feel right. Her chest began to tighten, making it hard to breath. Taking two deep breathes, Star shook her head and continued to watch the show. With each new trick, Star felt her chest tighten a little bit more each time. She would wave her hand in the air wildly to be picked-and each time some other girl in a tight skirt or a low-cut blouse would be picked. With each trick, Brittany would look back and smirk at Star, then pat her hand and whisper, "Maybe next time. But don't get your hopes up."

And with each new trick, Janna would ruin the magic-not even bothering to look up from her phone.

"Break in the hoops."

"It is up his sleeve."

"Wires to pull him in the air."

"Where is Tom with those burritos?"

With that last comment, Star abruptly stood up from her seat and stomped down the aisle. "Where are you going, he is just about to pick you." Brittany's voice called after her, while Janna continued to text on her phone. "Wait, if you're getting up, can you get me some Mewman corn on the cob since Tom ditched us?"

Finally, it felt that her chest was about to burst as she kicked open the door and raced into the lobby of the event center. Eyes itching, Star blinked rapidly and gulped deep breaths of air. Why was she so upset? Face burning red, the former princess mentally kicked herself. _Seriously, Star? You're better than this! You kicked evil villain butt more times than you can count and saved both Earth and Mewni! _But she couldn't pinpoint it-it was like she couldn't shut off her mind. Closing her eyes, she took cleansing breaths like when Marco had taught her karate. With one last deep breath for good measure, Star thought she would feel better.

But she didn't.

With a groan, she sank onto a bench and put her face in her hands, embarrassed. "What is the matter with you, Butterfly?"

"Star?" Jumping up from her seat, Star noticed Tom sitting awkwardly on a bench in the middle of the lobby. He was holding three hotdogs in his lap and had that lost puppy dog look he had whenever he needed a bro-talk. "Are you okay?" Getting up from his seat, he walked over to Star and sat next to her on the bench.

Dodging the question, she nudged him. "Those look like some tasty Flaming Burritos." With a sigh, he groaned and leaned back against the wall. Star resisted the urge to laugh as she patted his shoulder. "Why were you being so weird in there?"

Tom glanced at Star, a curious look on his face. "I probably shouldn't talk to you about this…"

"Why?"

"Well, you know, since we used to-and Janna-and I…"

Rolling her eyes, Star straightened up and smiled at Tom. "Tom, seriously, we broke up over four years ago. If you like Janna-ask her out!"

"Wait-how did you know I like-"

"Seriously Tom-I dated you for almost two years. I know that look you get when you like someone. Plus-flaming burritos?"

"Okay, okay. You're right." Tom gestured for Star to setlle down, leaning forward and groaning into his hands. "It's just, I always thought of myself as this super cool person-well, figurately anyway-but now I feel like when I'm around Janna, I turn into Marco!"

"Awkward?"

"Exactly!"

"Hey-that's my boyfriend!"

"What-but-you just said-STAR!" Star stifled a giggle but gestured for Tom to go on. Sighing, Tom continued. "It's just, I always thought I was this awesome, cool Prince of the Underworld, but when I'm around her, I just…"

Nodding her head slowly, Star furrowed her brow. "I get what you mean." She looked at Tom, feeling her chest tighten even more, feeling embarrassed to even admit her feelings out loud. "I just-I never really thought about what I looked like. I've always liked how I look and who I am. But during the show, the magician kept pulling up these girls and Brittany said he only picks pretty girls and he never picked me and-"

"WHOA WHOA WHOA! Let me stop you there." Tom gestured for her to stop, his three eyes narrowing at her as his tail twitched. "Star, even though I don't feel romantic feelings for you anymore, you still are one of the most amazing girls I have ever met-and I've met a lot of girls." Taking in a deep breath, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are super beautiful-those girls are probably just jealous. But what makes you super beautiful is how you see what makes everyone else beautiful."

Star's jaw dropped open and her eyes began to itch again-but this time for different reasons. The tightening in her chest became a warm tug. A smile slowly spread on her lips. "Tom, even though I don't feel romantic feelings for you anymore, you are still the coolest guy I have ever met. And one of the sweetest. HUGS!" She threw her arms around her friend, happier than ever that she was able to keep this friendship despite past hardships. Breaking the hug, she held him at arms-length by the shoulders. Raising an eyebrow, she smirked. "Plus, I noticed that Janna tries to act cooler when she is around you. Just saying."

The pair broke into big smiles. Even though it had been four years since they dated, this was the first real talk the pair had had just the two of them. The tugging in Star's chest began to grow warm-but not the romantic feelings like she got with Marco. It was the same feeling when she was with Ponyhead or Janna or Jackie.

The demon prince got a goofy grin on his face as he glanced back at the door. "So…you really think that Janna likes me?"

Groaning, Star stood up and pulled Tom toward the auditorium doors. "Come on, Lucitor. Let's just go see if Janna can ruin the final magic trick for us."

As the pair entered the auditorium and made it back to their seats, the magician began to set up for his last trick. Star made sure to let Tom sit next to Janna. As he offered her a hotdog, she grunted in reply, "Thought you were getting a flaming burrito."

"Oh, you know…carbs…" Tom replied then slapped his hand to his face. Star smiled as Janna slyly looked at Tom and let a small grin creep on her face before turning back to her phone. With a smile, Star glanced back up at the stage and let out a gasp. A large, beautifully crafted wardrobe was on display.

"And for my final trick, I will need a brave soul-for this finale trick, my dear magic lovers, is not for the faint of heart." The magician swished his cape behind him, thrusting a gloved hand onto his brow. Janna and Tom both stifled snorts of laughter but Star's eyes grew wide. He then looked around to auditorium, a hand above his eyes as if to block out the light. "Let us see who will be brave enough to assist me with my finale…YOU!"

Suddenly, a world got really bright. Star had to block the light from her eyes. With a yelp of excitement, she realized that the spotlight shown down on her and she had been chosen to be in the final trick. "Come up, my dear. It is time to show the world how brave you can be…"

Gasping with delight, Star resisted the urge to blow a raspberry at Brittany, who sat sulking with her arms thrust across her chest.

Star sprinted to a halt in front of the magician, who waved his black wand around Star. Jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, Star clamped her hands together as the magician explained to the audience what he wanted her to do. "Now my dear, if you would step up into the wardrobe." Star quickly sprang into the closet, having to crouch to fit. "Now, I will shut my lovely assistant into this wardrobe and say the magic words." The doors closed in front of Star. It got extremely dark. Through the wooden door, Star heard the magician exclaim "Abra KaWowYa!"

Suddenly, the floor of the wardrobe fell out from underneath Star. Falling too quickly to yell out, Star slipped down through a trap door. Before she could yelp, she landed on something that was meant to be soft…but wasn't. POW! With a grunt, Star slowly stretched out, rubbing her bum. Looking around herself, she saw that she landed on an old mattress that had the thinnest padding she had ever seen. "Seriously?" A roar of applause was heard above her as the crowd began to whistle and cheer. "So, am I supposed to just stay down here or…" Looking around herself, noticed an exit sign and left the building.

Star began to search around as people began to stream out of the doors. Somehow she had ended up outside the auditorium. Finally, after wading through the sea of people, Star finally found "Janna! Tom!" She quickly ran through the crowd and waved them down.

"Star! I knew that wasn't you on stage! The magician said you had a make-over." Tom smiled at her.

"I told you it wasn't her. He was just looking for a pretty blonde." Janna sighed as she finally put her phone into her pocket and looked at her two friends. "So where did the trap door dump you? Below the stage?"

Jaw dropping, Star shook her head in disbelief. "How did you know that?" Janna just shrugged her shoulders, then glared at Brittany as she walked by the trio. The heiress 'hurumphed' and flipped her hair as she marched away. Rolling her eyes, Star turned back to her friends. "I miss real magic. This show was such a tease."

Janna shrugged her shoulders before stretching her arms into the air and yawning. "Well, good night, gotta get back to my dorm so I can continue to procrastinate on studying for my midterm." She waved at Star with one hand while she flicked Tom in the nose with the other. With a wink, she walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

Turning back to Tom, Star looked at her friend but placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. Tom had a goofy grin on his face as he looked out to where Janna had disappeared. Piercing her lips, Star fought a smile off her face as she asked, "You okay, Tom?"

Slowly nodding his head, he smiled as he began to walk back home. "Yeah…such a tease."

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was fun to write about Tom and Star's dynamic. I like them as friends and am glad the show ended with them on good terms-can we talk about character growth with Tom?! Also, I felt that tease could have a lot of connotations-teasing could mean bullying like Brittany did to Star, or teasing could mean having your hopes up and being let down or just having your interest peaked, or it could mean having someone flirt with you and just messing around. Anyway, I thought it was fun to just have a slice of life moment. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think! Thank you again for reading, commenting, following, and favoriting my story. Until next time! **

**SugarQueen97: Haha yes-I feel like Marco mostly became a cop to help people but also a little bit because he just loves kicking butt! But he was a knight-I feel like he would be bored doing anything else. And yes-thank you, that was the main lesson I wanted to teach from that chapter! Thank you again for your encouragement! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your continual support and encouragement. It really means a lot to me! Hope you continue to like the stories! **


	21. Chapter 21

**I know, I know. It has been a hot minute! So sorry everyone-life is just so crazy busy even when there is nowhere to go! Hope you are all staying safe and healthy. We are getting close to the end of the series, just six chapters left including this one. Thank you again for coming back and reading my stories-I really appreciate it. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**21). Unicycle Tricks **

"So why did you tell them you could ride a unicycle?" Marco groaned as he dragged the cycle across the Echo Creek Academy parking lot toward his little sister, who shifted from foot to foot awkwardly. "You are literally about to graduate college, Mari! Couldn't you just google this and learn how to do this yourself? Plus-how does that help your get a job?!"

With a snort, Star dashed over to the siblings, sporting a wicked grin. "Ahh, come on Marco! Who hasn't fibbed on their resume? I mean-Buff Frog even said he was an experienced assassin when he applied to work at the castle!"

"Umm, Star, he was."

"Yeah, yeah, sure he was, Marco." Star waved her hand at the pair, plastering a kiss onto her husband's cheek, and quickly hugged her sister-in-law before heading back to the car. "I'm dropping off the kids with Mom and Dad for the afternoon so I can go shopping with Pony! Byeeeeeee!"

As she peeled away, Marco gave a goofy smile in her direction before shaking his head and turning back to his sister. She assessed her brother with a raised eyebrow. "Really Marco? You guys have been married-"

"Anyway-the art of unicycling." Marco cut her off, bowing to his little sister with a slight dip. "First, you must learn the meaning of the essence of yourself."

Mariposa blinked twice, giving him a dubious look. "And by essence you mean…"

"Do you want to learn how to ride a unicycle or do you want to learn-"

"Okay-okay, Marco! Chill! I'll learn the essence! Yeesh! So am I supposed to ask Mom and Dad how I was born or was conceived or go all the way back to Abuela-"

Marco huffed, crossing his arms with pierced lips. "You know Mom and Dad are driving down the coast for their sixth honeymoon so you just got me." Throwing his hands out in front of himself for emphasis, Marco closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Now, to find your center. Be one with yourself. Dive deep into yourself. Be the unicycle."

Rolling her eyes, Mariposa shook her head. "Yeah, maybe I can just ask Meteora to…"

"NO! You shall not ask Princess Cranky-pants!" Flourishing his hands, he lifted his head up to the sky. "Fine. I guess a demonstration is in order to show you just how important being one with yourself is to mastering the unicycle."

As if out of air, Marco whipped out a unicycle. Mariposa jumped back in surprise, raising an eyebrow. "Do you just keep that tucked away somewhere or-oh, you're already riding it." Mariposa watched her brother with a doubtfully pierced lip, raising an eyebrow at him. Blinking in surprise, she realized he was actually pretty good.

"Alright, Mariposa. This is an easy one for beginners. It is called 180-Twist." Marco began to rev up, pedaled forward quickly, then twisted 180 degrees on the cycle and started riding in a new direction. "Oh-and this one is the One-Foot Ride." He began to ride with one foot moving a pedal, the other propped up in the air. "And-and-and this one is 90-Unispin. And this one is-" Marco began going so quickly, getting caught up in riding a unicycle, that Mari had to widen her eyes to take it all in. Mariposa's vision began to blur as her brother started to do tricks so rapidly, she couldn't keep up. Smacking her head slightly, she blinked and shook her head for clarity. _Wow-who knew Marco had skills? _Finally, Marco did a full flip, landing firmly in place. "TA-DA! And so…oh. Sorry, Mari. I may have gotten a little caught up in riding. It has been a while…So-what do you think?"

Sheepishly, Marco got off the cycle and guided it over to his sister. Mariposa bit her lower lip and looked at her brother. "Well, it can't be too hard if you can do it. I mean, it's only got one wheel!"

"Fine! Let's see you do it then!"

"Fine!"

Whipping the unicycle away from him, Mariposa stuck out her tongue at him and snatched the cycle into her hands. "This won't be too hard. So I just gotta balance…maybe if I put my foot here…no, wait, let's try…" Wobbling, Mariposa finally got the unicycle to stand up. "Hey look! I'm doing it! I'm doing it!"

WHAM!

Promptly, the young woman slammed forward onto her face. "Owwww…"

Marco burst into laughter, hands falling to his knees. Peeling herself off the asphalt, Mari glared at her brother while blowing a piece of brown hair from her face. "Wow. What a loving, protective brother I have-HEY DON'T!"

With a click, Marco snapped a picture on his phone and grinned at his sister. "Sorry, that's what older, loving, protective brothers are for!" Still grinning, he glanced back down to assess his blackmail. Mariposa noticed his face freeze and his smile slowly fall.

"Marco?"

"Star called like…57 times. She hasn't done that since Ludo stole the Spell Book and we were almost sucked into a black hole. Hold on-she left a voicemail." Quickly holding the phone to his ear, Marco listened to the message, his brow furrowing more with each second. Suddenly, he dropped the phone, face blank. Mariposa's heart pounded in her chest. Before she could ask what was going on, Marco lurched forward and grabbed the unicycle "Hop on." He clamored up, balancing with perfect ease. Mariposa had never seen him with a face like this before. "Mari! Hop on!"

Mariposa wanted answers, but Marco was really freaking her out. Jumping onto the seat and holding herself up by her arms, she tightened her fingers on his shoulders as Marco suddenly raced forward. Mari's legs began to cramp as she held them up to keep out of the way of Marco's frantic pedaling. Echo Creek flashed by them as the siblings zipped through the town. Mariposa noticed some friends from her university give her funny looks as she road past but she didn't even give them a wave. Something was wrong. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Marco skidded to a halt. Mariposa blinked in surprise before her heart began to sink.

They were at the hospital.

"STAR!" Marco hopped off the unicycle, dropping it like a rock on the ground. Star dashed over to her husband, throwing her arms around him. She glanced over at Mariposa and with a start, Mari realized her blue eyes were filled with tears. Without explanation, Star gestured for them to follow her into the waiting room. She immediately raced up to the receptionist and banged on the glass wall. The Mewman behind the glass glared at her and threw back the partition. "Oh great-back to yell at me some more? And you brought your boyfriend and your…whatever she is."

"Look, they are immediate family, please let someone in to see them!" Star thrust her hands into the air, angry tears spilling down her face. The receptionist and Star began to argue back and forth but Mariposa tuned them out as Marco tugged her arm and pulled her aside.

"Marco-what is going on? I'm kinda freaked out and you haven't said anything! Why-" Suddenly, Mariposa paused as tears began to form in the corners of Marco's eyes. "Marco…"

Taking a shaky breath, Marco pulled his sister into a hug. Mari felt his muscles tighten as he held her closer before he began to explain. "Mom and…Mom and Dad were in a car wreck and they are-" He paused, and though Mariposa couldn't see his face, she could picture his eyes shut tight and face pinched. "They are in the ICU and the doctors aren't sure if they are going to make it."

Time froze. The world went silent and a strange ringing filled Mariposa's ears. Her heart began to pound heavily in her chest. Thrusting Marco away from her, Mari stared at him in disbelief. With a jolt, she swerved around to dash toward the receptionist desk. Star was now banging on the glass partition repeatedly while the receptionist stood behind the glass, shaking her head and writing some report. Nerves on fire, Mari made a move to race forward but Marco held her back. "Let me go Marco! They are wrong! There has to be something we can do-there is only-"

"Mariposa-they are in surgery right now. All we CAN do is wait."

Defeated, Mariposa deflated, all the energy suddenly rushing out of her body. With a sigh, she followed Marco to a seat and began to wait.

And wait .

And wait.

The clock seemed to inch by on the wall. After a while, Star joined them and the three sat in silence, holding hands. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doors to the hospital waiting room burst open. With a jolt, Mari realized she had drifted off on Marco's shoulder. Suddenly, the yells of little children filled their ears as Tommy, Cassie, and Comet all rushed into their parent's waiting arms. Mariposa sprang up just as former Queen Moon and King River raced in after their grandchildren.

"Daddy! Daddy! Are Abuelo and Abuelita dead?" Tommy gasped, giving his father a penetrating look he obviously inherited form his maternal grandmother.

With a wail, Cassie and Comet both began to sob, tears streaming down their faces. Star pulled them into a hug as she looked up at her own parents. Mariposa's heart tugged when she realized that she may never be able to do that with her own parents again and fought back tears. She glanced back down at Marco as he brushed tears away from his son's eyes.

"Abuelo and Abuelita got a big boo-boo and need to see the doctor." Mari could tell that it pained her brother to say that lie to his son but they just weren't old enough to know how much pain their grandparents-much less father-were in.

Comet began to dry his eyes as he blinked rapidly, tugged at something on his elbow, and held it up for his dad to see. "Here. This will make it better. And a kiss from Mommy!"

Marco paused as he looked at his son before catching his wife's eye. A small smile softened his serious face as he pulled his other son in close. As he was about to open his mouth, the doors opened again, revealing two doctors in green scrubs and white coats. One of the doctors was a monster who looked like an elephant but with deer antlers. Seeing the family, he quickly trotted over to them.

"Are you the Diaz family?"

"Are you the doctor taking care of my Abuelo and Abuelita?" Cassie asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Doctor Elephant Guy-my abuelitos have a boo-boo, could you give them this band aid and make them all better?" Comet thrust his used, slightly damp band aid in the doctor's face. The doctor blinked, his trunk twitched before kneeling down and smiling at the young boy.

"Thank you, I will give this to your abuelitos." Gently, he took the band aid from the boy and gently patted him on the head with his trunk. A serious look crossed his face as he stood up and glanced over at Marco and Mariposa.

Before she could stop herself, Mari exploded. "So how are they doing? Are they okay? What is their condition? What can we do to help? Where-"

Clamping a hand over her mouth, Star gave a pinched look at her sister-in-law. Sheepishly, Mari took her hand away and sighed awkwardly. "Sorry."

The doctor gestured toward the three children who were looking up at him expectantly. "Maybe we should talk away from the kids."

"Right! Onward, my grandchild! We shall go hunting and return once the doctor finishes giving your least favorite grandfather the bandage! HUZZAH!" River thrust his arms in the air, trying to excite the children. In confusion, the three kids looked at one another before thrusting their arms half-heartedly into the air.

"Remember to give that to my abuela!" Comet called as he raced after River and his sibling through the lobby door.

Everyone turned to Moon, who looked out the open doors after her husband with a frown on her face. She turned, patted Marco on the shoulder, and followed them out the door. "I'll make sure they are back soon."

Once all was quite in the room, Mariposa turned expectantly to the doctor. Pressure squeezed her hand and she looked down to see Marco crushing her hand with his. He had been trying to be strong for his kids. Star stood behind them, placing a hand on both their shoulders. The clock stopped as Mari held her breath.

"WELL?!" Marco finally couldn't take it anymore-Mariposa was glad she wasn't the first one to crack.

"The doctor wiped his forehead with his trunk before turning toward the family. "I can't be sure. It was very touch or go for a while. We had to resuscitate your mother twice." Mariposa's heart stopped. The words coming out of the doctor's mouth seemed foreign, alien.

Star tightened her grip on her family's shoulders, asking the question both were dreading to ask. "So, what does that mean? Will they be alright?"

Trunk twitching, the doctor nodded slightly. "I can't promise anything-but the worst has passed."

Time suddenly sprang forward. People talking, laughing, shuffling around, birds singing outside-dozens of wonderful noises replaced the ringing in Mariposa's ears. Marco's shoulders deflated as he grinned over at his sister. Star whooped, jumping into the air in excitement. The doctor grinned, raising his hands in front of him. "Look, don't get too excited yet. Don't leave the hospital-they aren't completely out of the woods yet but they should be okay. You can see them in a few hours once they are out of recovery. There are some restaurants just next door-why don't you go grab something to eat and we will page you if anything goes awry."

All three repeatedly thanked the doctor over and over, appreciating him for being honest and having the children not hear about what had happened. As the doctor turned to leave, he gestured toward Mariposa. "Did you apply to our nursing staff?"

Awkwardly, Mariposa nodded, eyes wide.

"I'll remember that. You kept a cool head through all this. Plus-that is awesome you know how to ride a unicycle. You could use that skill in the children's ward! The kids would love it!" With a wave, he went back inside to check on their parents.

Mariposa shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Turning toward her family, she noticed them flopped in exhaustion against one another in two chairs.

"They'll be okay." Marco smiled, then turned and pecked Star on the check before leaning his head against the wall. "Man-that was absolutely terrifying."

"Way scarier than fighting Meteora-ahh, I mean Mina! So, should we call Meteora? Let her know what is going on?" Star awkwardly chuckled. Mariposa raised an eyebrow at her but was too relieved to really care what she was talking about.

"Why don't we go get some food and call your dad before your kids end up hunting down the Bogbeast of Boggabah at the park again?" Mariposa asked. The couple laughed, following her outside to the Chinese-Mewman fusion restaurant next door-though corn dumplings were not something Mari was really craving.

As they walked out the door, the trio stopped cold, staring at the sidewalk. Marco's unicycle lay with a boot on the wheel, propped against the 'Do Not Park' sign on the street. With a groan, Marco rolled his head back and looked angrily at the sky.

Flipping her long, blonde hair, Star tried unsuccessfully not to smile at her husband. "So think you can un-ticket yourself, Detective?" Marco just gave her a blank look.

Mariposa grinned, something earlier that day she wasn't sure she would ever be able to do again. "Well, at least now it is tricked out."

With a groan, Marco smacked his face.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am so sorry it took so long to write. There are so many times where scary things happen and time seems to slow down, but once it is over the world seems to come back alive. (So, yes-a metaphor for Coronavirus.) Thank you again for commenting, following, favoriting, and reading my story! Hope you are all safe and please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Until next time! **

**Sugar: I am so glad you liked that episode. It is so true, everyone feels insecure, no matter how amazing they are. Plus, it is so fun to write about nervous Tom and Janna being-well, Janna! And yes, I agree-despite how we shouldn't objectify women or men, it still happens subconsciously. Studies have shown how people feel that more attractive people have better traits and qualities. And Star is such a beautiful girl who has great self-worth. It is important to remember that even if you doubt yourself, you are still beautiful! Thank you for commenting! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed the chapter! Hope you keep enjoying them and are staying safe. **

**EDD17SP: So glad you are enjoying the stories. Thank you for letting me know what you think! Chapter 5 was also one of my favorites to write! Thanks for the encouragement. **


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello again fellow Star vs the Forces of Evil fans! Hope you are all healthy and well during this time. So this story is a bit different from the rest of the stories because…it has no plot. Because of quarantine, I realized that not every day can be exciting or go the way you'd like it-but life still goes on. It just looks a bit different. So this chapter is just a random day for Star with no point whatsoever-which is kind of harder to write than a planned-out story. I hope you enjoy this story. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**22). Very original, no point, totally random day of the life of Star Butterfly **

There could be worse things in life-but Star Butterfly couldn't think of many off the top of her head. With a sigh, she blew a long, blonde strand of hair out of her eyes before looking around the rose garden she was gardening. Just a few feet away, Eclipsa was patting down some dirt around a new bush as Globgor in his miniature size fixed the lowest branches. The former Queen of Darkness glanced up at the teenager and smiled at her. "Now, isn't this nice? Gardening with the people I love most in the world-making beauty with our own hands."

Star forced a smile onto her face, but from the raised eyebrows of the couple, realized it was probably more of a grimace. Coughing into her hand to hide her face, Star looked back down at her flowers. Fighting down a sigh of boredom, Star gently lifted up a rose. Immediately, the flower welted and seemed to shrivel up in her hand. The second it shriveled up, the rose fell to the ground, dead. She stared down at it, unmoving. "UGH!"

The former royal couple jumped in surprise, Globgor accidentally growing to his regular size and destroying several rose bushes. "My dear, are you quite alright?" Eclipsa called, wiping her dirty hands on the apron of her dress. Star stood red faced before bolting up and waving her hands in front of her.

"Totally totally totally! It's just…uhh…I just got a call from Marco. He needs me to go help him, like, right away! And it's totally not because I'm not having the most fun time here and that this is totally boring-because it ISN'T! He's just-"

"A thorn in your side?" Globgor wiggled his eyebrows before bursting into laughter at his own joke.

Star slowly backed away, awkwardly chuckling. "Haha, good one. Thorn in your side. Well-gotta go. BYE!" Without a backward glance, Star dashed away, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.

Globgor turned to Eclipsa, an eyebrow raised. "She totally ditched us, didn't she?"

With a smile, Eclipsa nodded her head as she moved to continue pruning the bushes. "Ahh, to be seventeen again. My love, did you have to crush the white ones? Those are my favorite, you know." Suddenly, the pair gasped as something popped out of the bushes, banishing a wooden sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

"PAPA! FACE ME OR PERISH! SO SAYS METEORA THE GREAT!"

Globgor let a tear roll down his check as he patted his daughter on the head. "Just like her mother. I'm so proud."

As Meteora began to tackle her father, Star dashed her way down the steps of the Monster Temple toward Echo Creek. She felt a little guilty about lying to Eclipsa-but not guilty enough to go back and keep gardening. Whoever thought of gardening must have died of boredom! With a smile on her face, Star raced down the sidewalks through the bustling metropolis of Mewni-day Echo Creek. Monsters and Mewmans alike waved at her as she said hi to everyone she met. Some humans even gave her a weary smile, though they still knew she was the cause of Earth and Mewni merging-but they could just get over themselves!

Finally, after what felt like hours, (but in reality was only about 15 minutes) Star arrived at the Diaz' house. Swiftly kicking in the front door, Star dashed inside. "MARCO!" Looking around, she realized that he wasn't there. Tilting her head to the side, Star realized that no one was in the house. "Maybe they all went to the store?" With a shrug of her shoulders, Star began to walk toward the backdoor. The sound of giggles reached her ears. Leaping through the kitchen, Star kicked out the backdoor again. "MARCO!"

"Umm, hi Star." Star's eyes were greeted by the sight of Mrs. Diaz standing by the grill with a sausage speared on a fork while Mr. Diaz and Mariposa were staring at her with blank faces from a kiddie pool. "So I guess you're looking for Marco?"

"Umm, no! I'm looking for you-of course. Whatcha cooking, Mrs. Diaz?" Star awkwardly smoothed her dress before walking into the backyard. "Ohh, sausage! You know-before on Mewni, we would have battles to the death where the villagers would fight for the last sausage for the winter." Mrs. Diaz stared blankly back at her and Star blew out her checks before turning toward Mr. Diaz and Mariposa. "Wow! Pool party!"

"Oh yes! Care to take a dip?" Mr. Diaz smiled as Mariposa cheered, "Dip! Dip! Dip!" She giggled as she splashed some water into the air, causing Mr. Diaz to laugh as well. Star felt a smile grow on her face as she watched her second family play.

Mrs. Diaz closed the grill, slapped her hands together with a satisfied smile, and turned back toward the teenager with a knowing look. "Well, if you ARE looking for Marco, he won't be home for a few hours, but you are more than welcome to join us in a wily game of hide and seek before Mari's naptime."

"BOO! NO NAP TIME!" The toddler threw her hands into the air and flopped promptly on her butt in the pool.

"I feel ya, girl." Star nodded and held out her hand for a fist bump to the little girl, who giggled and high-fived her on the fist. Turning back toward Mrs. Diaz, she shrugged her shoulders. "Of course I wasn't LOOKING for Marco, but-if you happen to see him…"

Getting out of the pool, Mr. Diaz grabbed a towel and smiled at her. "We will let him know that you dropped by. Now-are you sure you don't want to join us? We are about to start grilling the pig-goat burgers you suggested! And the water's nice, you know!"

"Uh-oh."

All three promptly looked down at Mariposa, who had a guilty look on her face. She looked bashfully up at the adults through her eyelashes as the water slowly turned brown. Looking back at the couple, Star resisted the urge to smile. "I'll pass." Quickly, she kissed Mariposa on the forehead and hugged the Diaz'. "I'll see you later! BYE!"

When Star was out of earshot, Mrs. Diaz held out a hand to her husband. "I bet you this diaper change that they'll be married by the time they are 20."

"You're on! But…we really should change her diaper…"

Unaware of the bets being made on her love life, Star dashed down the street, feeling a twisting in her stomach. She stopped and placed a hand on her belly. It let out a loud roar, causing Star to giggle. Following her stomach, she raced to her favorite place in town. As she rounded the corner, she arrived at Britta's Tacos 2.0.

Dashing to the window, Star assessed her choices. Suddenly, the window flew open, revealing none other than, "Welcome to Britta's Tacos 2.0. Hi, my name is Oscar and I'll be taking you order today-hey, I know you! What's up, Star Butterfly? Where's Mango?"

"OSCAR?! What are you doing here?"

"I work here again. I got told I needed to better my future from The Great Wall by the manager and to not come back, so I came to work here. It's my side-gig. My keytar and I are going to make it soon." Flipping his hair out of his face, he smiled at her. "So what are you doing today? Have a big day without Mango?"

Star bit her lip. "Oh, you know. Just hangin' or whatever." She said flippantly. "So-oh horse feathers-I forgot my wallet!"

"No worries. I can cover you!" A chill voice called behind Star. Heart leaping for joy, the former princess turned to face the coolest girl she knew.

"JACKIE! And Chloe! Hola!"

Catching each other's eyes, Jackie and Chloe smiled back at her. "Actually, we say 'bonjour'." Chloe tucked her skateboard under her arm as Jackie walked over to Star. Chloe went to go order the tacos as Jackie took Star's hand and pulled her to a table.

"Star, it's been forever! How are you doing? Still hanging out with Diaz?"

"Of course! He's my best friend!"

"You two always were the best of friends. I'm glad to see some things haven't changed." Jackie tilted her head, then put her arm around Chloe's shoulder as she sat down with their tacos. "Ohh, these are my favorite! Thanks!" Taking a taco in her hand, Jackie held out her taco toward the middle of the table. "To change. And things not changing." Smiling, Star took a taco and tapped it with hers. Finally ready to satisfy her complaining stomach, Star shoved the whole taco into her mouth in one bite.

"AHHHHHH! HOT! HOT! HOT! OH-MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE! HOOOOOOOOT!"

Her mouth burnt like a thousand suns. Holding her tongue outside her mouth, Star began to fan it, looking left and right for something to drink. Sweat began to pour down her face as she gasped in pain. Finally, her eyes trained on the 64-oz soda in front of Chloe. Without asking, she seized the drink and turned it upside down over her face. The splash of sugar and liquid on her tongue (and the rest of her face) finally subsided the heat to a dull roar.

"Whoa. Wow. That was a close one. Lucky that drink was there." Star shook the soda out of her eyes and turned to see Jackie and Chloe giving her blank stares back. "Oh, sorry. Was that yours?"

Chloe looked at Jackie before turning back to the blonde teen. "It is fine. I can always get something else later-plus the American diet might not be the best for my figure."

Pulling her hair out of her face, Star smiled awkwardly at them. "Hehe. Thanks…So Chloe, how are you liking living in America and going to American high school? This is your senior year too right?"

"Qui, though I must say that this Echo Creek is most odd." The skater girl flipped her hair and tilted her head to the side to catch Jackie's eye. Jackie smiled sweetly back at her. "This place is full of monsters and people from another world. My home in France was barely effected by this 'Merge' though the new colors and moons in the sky are beautiful against the Paris skyline." She looked back at Star and smiled. "There are so many monsters here but many are now immigrating around the world. There is even a embassy for them in Paris. But like here, there are new creatures everywhere. Though the French police are furious at the migrating dragon-motorcycle animals that nest in the Eiffel Tower."

Star's face split into a big smile. Though she knew how the world was affected by her and Marco's accidentally merging of dimensions, she as extremely happy to hear that the world was adapting and maybe even better because of it. "That is so cool, Chloe! I'm glad you are enjoying it here! And I bet Jackie is happy too!" She wiggled her eyebrows at her.

Laughing, Jackie nodded. "Totally. It's cool that she gets to be here and spend senior year here in this weird little town." She looked around before leaning in, her voice growing quiet. "Though I've been to one place that is even weirder that we're gonna go over fall break if you wanna come. It's in Oregon, some place called Gravity Falls. It's supposed to be awesome!" Glancing at her watch, Jackie promptly stood up. "Oh snap, we gotta get you back to Janna's house! Her parents have a strict curfew!"

"Really? But Janna never has said-"

"Yeah, I don't ask when it comes to Janna. See ya later, Star Butterfly!" The two girls hopped onto their skateboards and waved goodbye, Star standing up and waving over at them. "BYE! Thanks for the taco!" Sighing, Star cleaned up their table and began to walk through the streets again. She REALLY didn't want to go back to the Monster Temple and Tom and Janna were off doing some weird dumpster diving thing and Marco was who knows-

Slapping her hand to her forehead, she mentally chided herself. She knew exactly where he was-it was Sunday afternoon after all! Dashing down the street, Star finally made her way to the garage of the one and only-"Ferguson! Hello!" She kicked in the side door to his garage, smashing her way inside. A flurry of cards and dice flew into the air as Ferguson and Alfonso stared up at her with large, frightened eyes. "Oh…Marco isn't here?"

"Hey Star! Want to join us in our game of Dungeons and Dragons? It's just us two today. Marco is doing some karate thing with Sensei and that annoying kid Jeremy but said he may catch up with us later!" Alfonso held his cards up for her to see, a smile on his face. He gently pushed up his glasses.

Ferguson, however, had his hands thrust across his chest. "Well hello Star, or should I say-Star." He paused, looked to the side, then back at her with a deepened frown. "Well, I couldn't think of another name to call you but you get what I mean. Didn't think you even remembered our names."

Star tilted her head to the side in confusion, scrunching up her face. "What? Ferguson, we hang out almost every other weekend-where is this coming from?"

Ferguson straightened up his back, putting his hands on the table. "Oh-sorry, old habits. Sophomore year you completely ignored us. We never saw you."

"Umm, sophomore year I was on Mewni fighting structural racism and institutional corruption with the Magical High Commission. And other stuff happened!"

"Oh, right. I forgot you guys were gone that year. Oh okay-wanna join?"

Star cocked her head to the side, looking at the board in front of her. "I dunno. It looks kind of complicated." Alfonso shrugged his shoulders and Ferguson raised his eyebrows at her. Shrugging her own shoulders, she sat down at the last available seat. "What the hey, so is this like Snakes and Ladders? Or Candy Land? Marco showed me how to play that…"

Finally, hours later, the side door opened to reveal Marco coming in, his eyes closed and face long. "YOU GUYS! You will not believe my day-it was the most life-changing day of my life. First, I was on the bus with Jeremy and Sensei when this Mewman woman next to me went into labor." He flopped into the last chair, tilting his head back, his eyes still closed. "And I had to help deliver her baby. I literally brought life into the world. Then, when we got off the bus, there was this fire and some monster kid was stuck in this burning building so I went in and helped him but stupid Jeremy told the news it was all him. AND THEN the monster kid's parents who were getting a divorce were so happy to see him alive that they decided to get back together and told me that I saved their marriage. Also, while I was in the fire I almost passed out and I think I saw heaven." Lifting his head, he looked at his friends. Startled, he saw the last person he expected to see. "Star? What are you doing here? I literally called you, like, ten times today, what-?"

"Yeah, cool story Marco. Now shut up! I'm about to complete my quest of the Cotton-Candy Wizard of Chocolate Lava Cake Mountain. You're gonna jinx my roll." Marco blinked at his girlfriend's speech, unsure how to respond. She was staring fixatedly at the board, wearing a pink wizard's hat and held a board game lid of Candy Land in her left hand while she rolled the die with her right. Confused, he looked over at Ferguson and Alfonso. The latter held two fists to his mouth, watching her in anticipation while Ferguson stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"You just had to go and fall in love with a magical princess, didn't you, Marco." Ferguson glared at him angrily, his eyes narrowing. "And now she goes and takes over the game and starts making up her own rules!"

Marco glanced back as Star rolled the die, threw her hands in the air in victory, and tossed her wizard hat like a graduation cap. A smile grow on his face. "Yep, that's Star."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know this seems a bit contrived but honestly a lot of the Star vs the Forces of Evil show as about Star just randomly living throughout her day and interacting with the people around her. (Especially the episode Britta's Tacos! Such a good one!) Anyway, just four more chapters left-I can't believe we are nearing the end. Thank you again for following, commenting, favoriting, and most of all reading my story. It's such a joy to write. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Until next time! **

**Starco4everr: Thanks! I am doing well, thank you! And thank you for your constant encouragement it really keeps me motivated! **

**EDD17SP: Very true! One thing that surprised me about Svtfoe is how some episodes would have such simple beginnings or even regular titles and suddenly become some of the most plot-driven/serious episodes of the show. Thank you for your thoughts! **

**SugarQueen97: So true! You completely grasped the true message of my story-though there are scary times and things don't always happen as we hope or expect, we must be grateful and thankful for what we do have. Thank you for your encouragement! **


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello hello hello! Welcome back the Life on Earthni, the collection of short stories revolving around the adventures of Star and Marco and friends as they navigate life on this strange new dimension. Thank you again for reading my story. It is so fun to write. Hope you enjoy this next chapter-it is honestly one of my favorites! I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**Chapter 23: Watermelon Felon **

"OH NO!" Star began panting as she chased after the bus. "WAIT FOR ME! WAIT FOR ME! WAIT FOR-oh, corn. I miss Cloudy." Skidding to a halt, Star leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees as she panted. Great. She was going to miss school again. _Mom is going to KILL me. _Shaking her head, Star looked to her left as her breathing slowed. Blinking rapidly, she gasped in surprise. _Wait-MOM? _

"Mom?" Star straightened up and dashed toward her mother, who was peering at a map in her hand in deep concentration. Moon jumped in surprise, turning toward her daughter with a hand to her chest. Piercing her lip, Moon crossed her arms over her chest.

"Star. Why are you not in school?"

Waving her hand nonchalantly, Star brushed off the question. "Mom, what are you doing here? Why are you…not wherever moms are at during the day?"

Moon rolled her eyes. "Star, I have a life outside of you, you know."

"You have a life?!"

"Star."

"Sorry. But seriously, Mom. What are you doing here at this time of day?" Star cocked her head to the side. She resisted the urge to smirk. She had learned this tactic from Janna. Turn the attention on someone else so they don't question what you're doing.

Sighing in defeat, Moon uncrossed her arms and gestured toward the forest and farmlands behind the shopping center. "There has been some trouble at the local farms. There have been a series of complaints of thefts of produce by Mewmans, monsters, and humans alike. As the representative of Mewni in the Echo Creek Tribunal, it is my duty to assess the situation and report back." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's probably just flocks of dragoncycles eating the vegetables but I still have to evaluate the situation."

Star furrowed her brow and placed a finger on her chin. "Curiouser and curiouser."

"My dear, that is not a real word."

"Of course it is, Mom! Marco showed it to me in one of his boring books!" Star snapped her finger, beaming at her mother. "Let me help. Back on Mewni, Marco and I did a little bit of detective work when Mina tried to Yada Yada Eclipsa! I mean-we never found out it was really her but we got really close!"

A doubtful frown appeared on Moon's face. "Are you sure it is wise to skip school? You already have missed so many days already and I probably could-"

"Ahh, come on! What is more important? Sitting in a classroom where I won't pay attention to a word that is said and not learning a thing OR spending time with my mother and helping to make a difference in society?" Star clasped her hands together, eyes dancing as she gazed her Moon. "Plus, who knows how much time we have left together."

Moon blew a strand of hair out of her face and looked up at the sky before answering her. "Fine. You can come." Star leapt into the air, pumping her fist as Moon muttered to herself, "How old does she think I am?!"

After adventuring through the farmlands, the mother and daughter arrived at a large, empty field. In the middle stood an angry farmer, tapping his foot with his arms crossed over his chest. "And I thought I had enough of tardy, lazy monarchs when Mewni was destroyed."

Star and Moon glanced at one another with a grimace before turning back to the man. "Good morning, sir. We have received a report of a series of thefts. Your farm was the most recent report on our document."

"Queen Moon, coming down to mingle with the commoners. Well, you're one of us now, aren't you? Just Plain Moon. No magic either. What good are you?"

"Sir, I am here to interview you about your crops being stolen, not debate Mewman politics." Venom dripped from Moon's voice, causing Star to shutter. She was glad she was not on the receiving end of her words-been there, done that. The Mewman farmer paled and dipped her head for her to continue. "There now. So you initially reported your cropped going missing yesterday during the evening. Could you tell me what is missing?"

The man threw his hands into the air, gesturing to the empty field around them. "This answer that question for ya?"

Biting her lip, Star resisted the urge to giggle as the corners of Moon's lips tightened.

"Could you tell us what type of crops that were stolen?"

"ALL OF IT! My corn. My rutabagas. My corn. My cabbages. My corn." He raised his eyes to the sky, taking off his hat and holding it against his heart. "But worst of all, they got my watermelons."

"NO! Not the watermelons!" Star gasped. Ever since Earth and Mewni had merged, the Mewman people had learned the amazing properties of watermelons. It had become the most popular food-second only to corn. But some would say that watermelon was even better. The farmer bowed his head, slowly putting on his hat with tears in his eyes.

Sighing, Moon shook her head with a blank face. "Now, let us calm down. Could my daughter and I take a look around your farm to see if we can find anything that could help with the investigation?" With a sad grunt, the farmer gestured toward the field and began to walk away without another word.

As Star began to walk away, she whispered to the farmer, "You will be avenged."

The pair began their search, looking around the field. After an hour, Star groaned in frustration. "This place is huge! It will take forever to find a clue!" She glanced over at her mom (who was obviously ignoring her) before rolling her eyes and turned her eyes down to the ground-and something caught her eye. "Oh never-mind! I found something! MOM!" Kneeling down, Star looked at the footprint next to hers. It was around the same size as her boot. Looking forward, she noticed tracks of the same boot leading toward the now named 'Not So Certain Forest of Certain Death'. Moon reached Star just as she straightened up and began to dash toward the woods. "Mom! There's tracks! Let's go!"

"STAR! Dear, let's think it through! STAR!" Moon called after her and began to follow her toward the forest. The two raced into the woods, jumping over giant, man-eating flowers who lurched at them. Star's vision narrowed as she dashed into the woods and just as quickly, she broke through a clearing. And halted in her tracks.

Moon accidentally slammed into Star, causing the two to fall forward. "Star-you can't go wandering off like that! You could run into…danger…" The two slowly stood up, eyes wide. "Well, I think we know where all the crops have gone."

The former monarchs were surrounded by a sea of people, all staring at them , frozen in place. Everyone seemed to be busy working, in the middle of building or moving supplies. Each face glared at them in anger or shock. With a jolt, Star realized that she recognized many of these faces from the Kingdom of Mewni. It seemed they had stumbled on a war camp.

"Uhh, hi?" Star timidly waved her hand, awkwardly backing away.

"GET 'EM!"

In a flurry of punches and kicks, Moon and Star fought but were soon overwhelmed by the enormous group. Before she knew it, Star and her mother were bound in tight ropes with knots that would have made Marco's Miniature Miniature Book of Knots proud. She strained against the ropes and with a frustrated groan she threw her head back against her mother's. "If we still had magic we would totally already be free."

"Well, dear, you put an end to that."

"Low blow, Mom."

"Well, well, well." A familiar voice called out, causing Moon and Star to jolt up in shock. Turning to the left, they saw none other than Mina Loveberry, looking haggard with a strange glint in her eyes. Star couldn't believe it-she honestly hadn't even given Mina a second thought since Earth and Mewni merged into one dimension. "Look what the cat dragged in. Former Queen Moon and Stella Butterfly."

Star cocked her head with a frown. "Umm, my name is Star."

"Nope. Your name is definitely Stella." Mina jerked down, getting right into Star's face. Star gagged, Mina's breath smelling of mushrooms and something that smelt suspiciously like dragon poop. Mina turned toward Moon, tossing her hair behind her. "Bet ya didn't think you'd be seeing me again. But there is nothing that can get past Mina Loveberry!" She stood up, flourishing her hands as she began to pace. "You're probably wondering, 'How did Mina survive all alone out here in the forest?' Well-let me tell ya!"

"Ugh-this is going to take forever." Moon muttered under her breath but Mina continued, not having heard her.

"You thought I had gone crazy. Bananas. COO-COO! Well-I'm more not-crazy than ever! I've been waiting my time, living in the wild, surviving off the land. My followers have heeded my call-they understand what it means to truly be Mewman." Many of the workers on the camp gathered around, nodding their heads and calling out support as she continued. "Our lands have been invaded by monsters and strange invaders who look like us. The world has changed but we know what it truly means to be Mewman!" A cheer went up in the crowd. Star and Moon glanced at one another. Neither had to say just how crazy Mina had become but they didn't want to interrupt. She was giving them everything-plus, she seemed like she might tell the crowd to eat them so they didn't want to play with those chances.

"We've been building our cause, taking what we need to build our army. We take what is ours-these farmers must pay their taxes to their future ruler. Their food contributes to the cause and supports their army." Star raised her eyebrows-Mina was more into monologuing than Ludo. "We will take our army and save our fellow Mewmans from the tyranny of Echo Creek-this new kingdom that has strange mechanical dragons and warnicorns on its streets. We shall save the Mewmans and banish all monsters and Mewman look-a-loos and Mewni will be ours!"

A cheer exploded from the crowd, one person fainting in exciting. Moon glanced at her daughter with a fearful eye. "Does she not realize that this isn't Mewni anymore?"

Star shrugged, shaking her head as she continued to fiddle with the bindings. "Who cares? Mina is crazy! I mean-look at her!"

Moon grimaced as the crowd finally began to calm down. "I don't know, Star. She seems to have a lot of followers. I'm not sure what we can do to-"

"Now, my fellow believers! I sentence the no-longer-Queen Moon to death by man-eating flowers-for being a traitor and siding with that monster-lover queen." A cheer broke out from the crowd, one man shouting, "Go Queen Moon!" and getting shushed by his wife. Moon and Star gasped and began to work harder on breaking each other's bonds. "And as for Princess Stella…" Mina turned her gaze to Star with a smirk. "Let's keep her and use her to get more stuff!" Another cheer grew though confused looks were exchanged. Obviously, they wanted to have another person to give to the monster flowers.

The bonds slowly began to loosen but Star realized she needed to buy more time. Tapping her mom and winking at her, she used her mom's back to push themselves into a standing position and looked around the crowd. "Hey Mina!" Well, she may not have been the most eloquent queen but she still had _some _training. "That was a great speech-but let's think about this for a minute." Glancing around herself, she nodded her head to one guy. "Hey you! What do you do here?"

"Me?!" A former nobleman blinked, pointing to himself. "I build the catapults."

"You build the catapults?! That is so cool-uhh, but that's not the point. Do you get to decide what else to make or how many to make?"

The nobleman cocked his head to the side with a frown. "No-no I don't."

"Wow. You don't get to make any decisions." Star shook her head and struggled to walk forward. Moon stumbled behind her, almost being dragged by her daughter. She grunted, 'Do you have a plan?' but Star ignored her. "How many of you can talk about what you think or do you have to listen to Mina tell you what to do?" The crowd began to look at one another, frowns on their faces. Some tentative called out 'Mina?' Star nodded her head and gestured with her elbows since her hands were tied to her mom. "Exactly! Mina tells you what to do. But in Echo Creek-in lots of places on Earthni-people let you say what you think and you can vote to make decisions. You don't have to steal watermelons or hide in the woods. You can-"

"STOP SPREADING YOUR LIES, STELLA!" Mina roared, rushing to block the former princess from the view of the crowd with her body. "We don't make decisions by talking and happy-good-fuzzy feelings like my doctor told me to feel! We make decisions I tell them to make and by fighting and ordering people around." She turned toward the group with narrowed eyes. "And anybody who doesn't like that can say 'Sayonara' with a catapult down the river." She snorted, hands on her hips. "That's how we work here- order people around and get rid of anybody who says anything bad about us-just like those modern day American politics you feel so good about."

With a shrug of her shoulders, Star caught her mother's eye. "Well, she's got a point."

"Star…"

But before Star could reply, a sword slashed down between the two, cutting the bindings. With a yelp, Star lurched forward, whirling around to stand in a fighting stance. "You wanna 'opinion' Stella? You gotta fight to have one of those!" Mina banished her sword at the former princess. "It's either fight me or your mama will be a nice afternoon snack for our pet flower monsters."

Star caught her mother's eye, who was being held hostage by four, burly Mewmans. Furrowing her brow in concentration, Star turned to face Mina, fists held up in front of herself. "Being it on, Loveberry."

The warrior slashed her sword down at Star, who ducked into a roll, popping up behind her. "Missed me!" With a growl, Mina swung the sword behind her. Star leapt back, feeling the blade tickle her dress. Gulping, she took a step to her left. "Missed again!" Mina howled in frustration, her eyes reddening, as she lurched forward with a jab. Star was extremely glad that magic was gone-Mina would probably have pummeled her to princess dust by now.

Mina kept slashing at Star, who merely danced out of her reach. Each thrust of the blade caused Mina to become more enraged. A couple times, she almost stabbed Star but the former princess kept her cool. Usually she had Marco or even Tom to help her battle monsters in the past-but Star only had herself and no magic to help her. Glancing up, Star saw a low hanging tree branch. With a smirk, she dashed behind Mina, sprang onto her back and leapt into the air. She grasped the tree branch and caught the blade between her feet. Jerking up with her hips, Star pulled the sword out of Mina's grip and hoisted herself up onto the branch.

Banishing the sword down at Mina, Star winked down at her. "I'd say it's time to get to the point." Flipping off the branch, Star landed in a crouch and swept her leg, toppling Mina to the ground. As Mina moved to retaliate, she froze as Star pointed the sword into her face.

Mina raised her hands above her head and sighed. "Fine! You got me!"

Star smiled, keeping the sword pointed toward the villain. "What can I say-I was trained by the best!" She smiled over at her mom, who beamed back. "Now-let my mom go!"

Nodding her head, Mina gestured toward Moon. The Mewmans thrust Moon forward, who walked over to her daughter. Once Moon was standing behind Star, Mina slowly stood up, hands still above her head. "Fine, I surrender. You now rule the clan and can take your place as leader by taking my head."

"WHOA-WHAT?!" Star lowered her sword, shaking her head in horror. "No way! I would never do that!" She glanced at the crowd, who looked confused, one person standing backward as if not sure what direction to look. "Uhhh-how about this?" Star paused, looking at her mother for confirmation. Moon shrugged, wordlessly saying this was Star's show. With a tug at her heart, Star realized that her mom trusted her to make her own decisions. Slowly, a smile built on her face as she turned to face Mina and the crowd. "Why don't you do what the first Mewmans did? Move somewhere else and start a new colony. You want to keep the Mewmans pure or whatever-but really, the first Mewmans were actually humans."

"WHAT?!" Moon gasped, holding a hand to her mouth in shock.

"Mom-get with the picture! Yeah, they wanted a fresh start so they took boats and sailed across the sea to find a new land and somehow came to Mewni!"

One Mewman gestured behind herself. "So you mean for us to use these boats and go across the ocean to find a new place to live like the first Mewmans?" Everyone turned toward where she was pointing. Moon and Star caught each other's eye as they saw a fleet of hand-crafted boats piled on top of one another. Star wondered how they could have missed that.

"May I ask-why do you have those boats?" Moon questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"For the naval attack on Echo Creek of our invasion strategy."

"Right…but why aren't they near the water?"

Everyone was silent for a second before one person cheered. "TO THE BOATS!" With a roar, all the Mewmans raced to the boats. Cries of 'Mewni II' and 'New Mewni' filled the clearing as the Mewmans began to work to free the boats. Each began to push and pull at the boats, huffing and grunting with the strain. The boats slowly began to budge, one by one each inching toward the direction of the ocean…many miles away.

Taking Star's hand, Moon tugged her back toward the woods. "And that's our cue to leave." Gripping the sword, Star dashed after her mother back toward the farm. After many glances back and tripping over roots and one invisible goat, they finally broke through the forest onto the farm. Gasping for breath, Star clutched her knees and looked back up at her mother. Moon held a hand to her chest, catching her own breath. The sound of huffing caught their attention as they turned to see the Mewman farmer slowly making his way over to them.

"Did you find my crops? Did you arrest the culprits?"

Catching her mother's eyes, Star shrugged her shoulders. It was her turn to deal with crazy Mewmans. Moon turned toward the farmer, her face a cold statue. "No one else will steal your crops. You may now go home. And maybe rethink your choice of shoes." The farmer glanced down at his stiletto heels that were poking into his dust. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned around and marched back to his house, his heels poking holes deep into the dirt.

With a whoop, Star thrust her sword in the air and whirled around to her mom. "Wow! That was great! Can you believe-OOPH!" Star was cut off by Moon thrusting her arms around her. A smile grew on her face, slowly bringing her arms around her mother.

"Star-I am so proud of you! You handled the situation wisely and with tact. You would have made a good queen."

Her cheeks grew warm and a wide grin split her face as she pulled away. "Ahh, thanks, Mom. It just felt good to make a difference again. Plus-I got a cool new sword."

"Umm. No." Moon gently took the sword from Star's hand, who frowned and crossed her arms across her chest. "But yes. I am proud of you. And you can make a difference-it just may look a little different in this new world. It takes time and changing things at the institutional level."

Star slowly nodded her head, an idea forming in her mind. "Yeah…I can change people's minds and make everyone get along."

A soft smile grow on Moon's face as she shook her head. "Changings laws will be easier than changing minds." Star realized her mother was right-despite how she wished she wasn't.

With a nod, Star looked her mom right in the eye. "Yeah-I guess…And I might know what I can do to start making some positive changes. But I think I need your help to do it."

**And Star the lawyer was born! It makes sense to me for Star to want to make a positive change in the world after all that she had done on Mewni as princess and queen. To me, her being a lawyer in the new world and fighting for monster, Mewman, and human equal rights and making a positive change in the world is exactly what she would do. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! This was a fun one to write. Let me know what you think about this chapter. Thank you again for reading! Only three more chapters left! Until next time! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much-I appreciate all your encouragement! Glad you enjoyed the chapter! **

**SugarQueen97: Haha Star always seems to do what you least expect-that's what I love about her character. And I love all your ideas-thank you so much for sharing. Let's just say great minds think alike! (I won't say which ideas but there may be many of those in the works-insert smirky emoji face.) I can't wait to hear what other ideas you have and for you to see what the next three chapters hold! **


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello again everyone! Thank you for tuning back into Life on Earthni-this has been such a fun series to write. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. We are in the endgame now-just a couple of chapters left. And let me tell you-thinking of something with an 'X' in it was hard to come up with but once I thought of xylophone, it kind of began to flow. Anyway, I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. Hope you enjoy this story. **

**24). Xylophone Prodigy **

"Okay, Butterfly. Let's do this." Meteora muttered to herself as she walked onto the Echo Creek Academy Cornball field. She glanced left and right, seeing different players stretching or tossing a ball back and forth to one another. A couple of her old teammates waved at her as she passed. Giving a sad smile, Meteora waved back as she continued forward.

And swerved to the left, face-planting into someone's chest.

Straightening up, she backed up to see the coach stood with his arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed at her. "What are you doing here, Butterfly? You know you were kicked off the team last year for excessive aggressive contact. Get off the field."

Hands balling into fists, Meteora jutted her chin up and glared at him straight in the eye. "I'm not here for you, 'Sir'." Sarcasm dripped off her words. The coach narrowed his eyes as she continued. "I'm here for band tryouts. I'm going for the drumline." Though, if Meteora was honest with herself-that was only part of the reason. She and Mariposa had had many a late-night sleepovers discussing joining the high school band so she could at least go to the games for free. And if one of the players got hurt-they'd HAVE to ask her to play and she'd be back on the team…But she wasn't about to tell him that!

"Drumline?" The coach laughed, throwing his hands on his stomach. "That's a first. You can't just walk in and make the drumline-those kids are the cream of the corn crop." He shook his head, walking away. "Drumline. HA!" As he walked away, Meteora narrowed her eyes at him. What did he know?

"Meteora! HEY!" Whirling around, she saw Mari racing up to her in her Echo Creek Cornball Uniform. "Have you tried out yet?"

Shaking her head, Meteora shrugged her shoulders as she glared over at coach. "No-but I'm about to punch in his stupid face."

Mariposa looked over at coach and winced before looking back at her best friend. "Yeah…he's a total jerk. But sophomore year! We are totally gonna rule this school!" Meteora rolled her eyes at her best friend affectionately as Mariposa began to speak faster and faster. Something she and her brother had in common. "I mean-if you're on the drumline and I'm on the cornball team, we will totally know everyone in school and get invited to all the cool kid parties. Though, it would be cooler if you were on the team too. I mean-" She began to use air quotes as she spoke, causing Meteora to laugh. "You're too 'aggressive' and caused 'too many bodily injuries to our opposing teams' and you are 'a danger to others around you' or whatever." Mariposa sucked in a deep breath. Meteora took this time to slap a hand over her mouth with a giggle.

"Thanks for the support, Mari. But I gotta get ready to go to tryouts. And shouldn't you be at practice?" The pair glanced over at the team, who had gathered around coach. He seemed to be pounding his fist and raising his voice with each sentence.

With a shrug, Mariposa took Meteora's hand off her mouth with a smile. "Nah. I wanna watch you try out. And you know coach. He just started his monologue on past failures as a team." She checked the time on her compact mirror in her pocket before looked back up. "So we have about an hour, maybe an hour and a half before practice starts back up." Dipping her head to her best friend, she cocked her head to the side. "You feel ready for tryouts? You're totally going to make it!"

Smiling, Meteora cracked her knuckles as she turned toward the band members arriving at the stands. "Oh-I'm ready. I've been practicing all summer with my mom. Did you know she plays guitar? She wanted to start a mother-daughter band but I put a stop to that real quick." Noticing everyone beginning to line up, Meteora jogged over to the group. "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" Mari cried as she jogged to the stands to watch her best friend try out.

As Meteora leapt into the crowd, she bumped shoulders with someone. "Oops, sorry, I-oh, never mind. It's you." She turned back toward the director, who had started to direct different students to different instruments.

"Well. Well. Well. What are you doing here, Butterfly? Slumming it with the band geeks?" Meteora gritted her teeth together as she glared forward, unsuccessfully ignoring the boy next to her. Dumb Carter. He just thought he was so cool and awesome and cute. Just because he had dimples and handsome yellow eyes and some chiseled jawbone on top of a swimmer body with strong horse legs doesn't mean he was cool or awesome or…well, okay. She'd give him cute. She grunted at the monster boy as she continued to listen for her name. Finally, the director called her name.

"Meteora Butterfly? Huh, thought you would be playing on the team. Well, welcome to the band. You're at…xylophone two."

"XYLOPHONE?! But I have been practicing the snare and tenor drums!" She cried out. Carter snickered and she swore he heard him say, "Lol. Xylophone. What a loser."

"Sorry, Ms. Butterfly. But you have to work your way up to the tenor or snare drum." The director dipped her head forward, one of her snakes for hair flickering their tongue at her while others pointed her toward the xylophone. Growing red, she balled her fists and stomped over to the xylophone. She had to resist taking the instrument and lifting it over her head and tossing it at Carter's stupid, handsome face.

The director glanced down again at the list, looking up at who was left in the group and spotted Carter in the crowd. "Ahh, yes. Our star swimmer and musician. Mr. Carter Man-Carver, xylophone one." Carter's mouth dropped in shock and Meteora chuckled to herself.

As he stalked over to the instrument next to her, she glanced over at him with a smirk on her face. "Wow. Xylophone. I thought you said losers play xylophone."

"Shut up, Butter-flop."

Taking up her mallets, Meteora sighed as she looked up at the director. Her snaky hair looked at each student-somehow she had just enough snakes to have an eye on each individual student. The director called out to the high schoolers. "First, let's start with a C major scale. Ready? One-two-three." Using her hands, she directed the drumline. Each bass drum played their drum, the tenors and steel drums practicing in unison. The snares held a steady rhythm. Meteora and Carter glanced at one another before turning back and playing the C scale. "Very good. Snares, remember to keep tempo. Now, C minor. One. Two. Three."

The director began to direct each scale, the instruments either kept time or played the notes as a team. Meteora and Carter would glare at one another before each scale. To Meteora's surprise and delight, she was able to play each scale perfectly. Maybe those scales her mom taught her hadn't been a waste of time! When playing the B-minor scale, Carter played with one hand while wiggling his eyebrows at the former princess. Meteora threw her mallet like a boomerang and somehow (Meteora wasn't sure how she did it but she didn't care) played F-major. Carter snorted, stomping his hooves angrily as she winked at him with a grin.

"Woohoo! Way to go, Meteora!" Mariposa called from the stands. Meteora smiled over at her friend then grimaced as coach's voice blasted over a megaphone.

"Diaz! Time to get your butt off the stands and start practice! Now move it or you'll be off the team like Butterfly over there and forced to play 'Twinkle-twinkle Little Star' until your fingers bleed!" Mariposa and Meteora caught each other's eyes.

Not looking away from Meteora, Mari called over to the coach. "But what about reviewing the play tapes, Sir? We haven't done that from last season." The Cornball coach straightened up indignantly, pushing over two kids onto the ground.

"You-go get the tv!" He pointed at a small Mewman kid who blinked rapidly through big, brown eyes. The coach dashed over to the nearest building, throwing open the doors. "Wait there or it's a week of leg day." He disappeared into the building as each cornball player breathed out a breath of relief. Mariposa shrugged her shoulders and grinned over at Meteora, causing the former princess to grin. And that was why they were best friends.

The director then had each instrument play individually, giving time for Meteora to look over the music sheet in front of her. Something about it was really familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard the song before. "So why you here, Butterfly?" Jerking her head up, she narrowed her eyes at Carter.

"Why are YOU here? Shouldn't you be working on a back-stroke or something?"

"It's off season for swimming and I actually care about what this band." He tossed his head, causing his shoulders to ripple. Meteora bit her lip as she looked at him then jerked her head back down to the music. Dumb Carter with his dumb muscles.

"I care." She said, not looking up from her music sheet.

He narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms. He accidentally stabbed himself with his mallet, which he grunted and thrust them down on the instrument. "You don't care. All you care about is getting close to the Cornball field." He snatched up his own music, glaring down at it. "You don't care about anything but yourself and your stupid game. Some people actually care about what the band does."

Head snapping up, she stared in shock at Carter. Since when did he care about anything but himself? Her eyes softened as she noticed Mariposa cock her head in the background. Just as she opened her mouth to ask him what he meant by that, the director interrupted her thoughts. "Ms. Butterfly. Mr. Man-Carver. It's time for you to try out our marching number for this year. You've probably heard of it. It is by a famous Mewman musician named…" She paused as she looked back down at the paper. "Ruberiot. This is called the Ballad of Star Butterfly. Huh." She looked back up at Meteora. "Any relation to you, Ms. Butterfly?"

Meteora's mouth hung open in shock as Mariposa got out her mirror to begin recording the session with a smirk. Star's Song Day song. How did she not recognize it? Clearing her throat, Meteora shook her head. "Uhh, nope. No relation." Well, not technically…She took up her mallets, nodding her head to the director.

With a shrug, the director looked over at Carter. "Mr. Man-Carver, why don't you take the first verse?" Carter glared at Meteora as he took up his own mallets and began to play. Meteora blinked. He was good. Really good. A small smile grew on his face as he played, showing his dimples. Meteora blushed, instantly facing down at her instrument. With a flourish, he finished the verse, smirking over at her.

"Top that, Butter-flop."

Narrowing her eyes, she straightened up her shoulders and raised her mallets. "Just watch me, Sea-goat."

"Ohh, good burn, Meteora!" Mariposa called, laughing at Carter's blush.

Taking a deep breath, Meteora cleared her mind as she began to play. She accidentally hit the wrong note on the first try. She glanced over at the director. "Can I start again?!" Dipping her head, the director sighed. Each snake hissed in annoyance. Shaking out her fingers, Meteora took up her mallets and looked at the sheet. Well, better now than never.

She began to play the next verse, murmuring the words under her breath. She couldn't WAIT to tell Star they were playing her Song Day song in band. She'd hate it! The music began to flow from her hands. The melody floated through the air, causing her to smile as she began to continue to play the music. "She's a rebel princess, she's the best. She's a ball of lightning in a hot pink dress." It was like she was getting swept up in the music. Meteora closed her eyes, instinct taking over as she continued to play. Each note was like an extension of her soul. Suddenly, she reached the end of the melody as the music changed keys.

With a jolt, Meteora opened her eyes and blinked at everyone. Carter, the director, and all the other students were staring at her in shock. Even Mariposa's mouth hung open as she looked over her mirror which had recorded the whole thing. Blinking rapidly, Meteora blushed and tucked her arms behind her back. "Soooo, how about that song, right?"

The director's hair swayed, each snake seemingly hypnotized. With a nod, she turns toward Carter and gestured her head. "Wow. Um, Mr. Man-Carver…could you play the last page with Ms. Butterfly? Starting at…wow…the fourth measure?" Carter merely nodded, looking at Meteora with a funny look on his face that she couldn't quite read. Turning back to the music, she turned the page to the last part. Sucking in a breath, she raised her mallet and began to play.

The music began to flow again, but this time there was a richness to it. Glancing to her left, Meteora noticed a smile growing on Carter's face as he began to harmonize with her. To her shock, she realized she was grinning right back at him. Keeping their eyes on one another, the pair continued to play as the words ran through Meteora's head. "A prince of the princess's deepest desire. I don't need to show it, I think we all know it…" The music grew louder, each chord that was struck adding a deep sound that resonated around the whole field. Finally, the last few measures grew in a crescendo, ending with multiple chords ringing throughout the field as the song ended. Meteora and Carter both grinned at one another, sweat pouring down their faces. A blush crept on her face when suddenly she jumped as a wall of sound hit her.

Turning to the side, she saw the whole Cornball team, band, and Mariposa all cheering, giving a huge applause. One kid on a bass drum wiped away a tear. Turning toward the director, Meteora raised a cocky eyebrow. The snakes in her hair wiggled happily but she kept a face of stone. "Play like that at the next game and you're in the band." She glanced at Carter and nodded at him too. "Both of you. Just…don't stuff mallets down each other's throats and we will be fine." She looked down at her list. "Okay, next is cymbals. Ms. Prickle?" As she walked off, Meteora caught Carter's eye.

Before she could say anything to him, something tackled her from behind. "OH MY GOSH! You were amazing, Meteora!" Turning around in the hug, Meteora grinned at her best friend. Mariposa let go but continued to jump up and down in excitement. "I mean-I never realized you were so good! Can you believe-"

"DIAZ! WHY ARE YOU WASTING MY TIME-WE WATCHED THOSE TAPES IN OFF-SEASON!" Mariposa paled as their coach stalked over to her, arms crossed over his chest. Turning around, she gave him a small innocent smile but he narrowed his eyes at her. "Diaz, give me ten laps. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

Springing to action, Mariposa dashed down the stands, hopped the arm rail, and began jogging around the cornball field. The coach turned to Meteora and snorted. "Nice song." As he walked off, she stuck out her tongue at him.

Turning around, Meteora gasped as she almost bumped into Carter. He blinked rapidly, quickly stepping back from her. "Oh, hey. Congratulations, Butterfly."

Smiling, she dipped her head. "You too, Man-Carver."

"Just…call me Carter."

Heat rushing to her cheeks, she nodded at him. "You played super well. I mean-we both did, at the end there…we sounded so good together. I mean-"

"Yeah, you did too." Was he blushing? Before she could tell, he put an arm behind his head and stretched. "Seriously, you did great. Sorry I said you didn't care-it's just music is really important to me. And I guess I just get protective of my friends. I think we both are that way." He glanced over at Mariposa, who was sweating profusely (it was a family trait) as she jogged around the field. "Anyway, you could be a prodigy-but it could have been my influence."

Crossing her arms across her chest, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Smirking, causing one dimple to pop up (which caused Meteora's heart to flutter, even though she would never admit it) he smiled at her. "Why not test it out Friday night-just to see if you really are as good as you think you are. Maybe we could grab dinner after?"

Meteora's jaw dropped. Did he just-"Of course she will!" Swinging to the side, the pair saw Mariposa jogging in place nearby, obviously eavesdropping. Meteora bit her lip and looked at Carter, her tail twitching.

"Sure. Why not?" Carter's face split into a big smile as he began to back away then jogged off to the school. Meteora looked back at her best friend, shaking her head in amusement. "You're a mess, you know that?"

"You still love me!" Mariposa called back, saluting her.

"DIAZ! THIS ISN'T SOCIAL HOUR! GIVE ME ANOTHER FIVE LAPS! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

**Lol-I don't know about you, but I have had some crazy coaches like that. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. Could Mariposa and Meteora get their own spin-off series already? I also picture Meteora being boy-crazy, like of like how she liked Rasticore so much! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter-it was fun to write. I do both music and sports so it is fun to see how much people care about both sports and music and how both are super cool. Thank you for following, favoriting, commenting, and most of all reading my stories. Only two more left-and they are all Star and Marco! Hope you enjoy. Thank you again and until next time! **

**Sugar: Thanks for your positivity. There is a light side and a dark side to every occupation. (Except ice cream makers-there is nothing evil about that.) Lawyers can be both good and bad and I wanted to show how law can be used to make a difference. Thank you again! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your encouragement! I always appreciate it! Hope you enjoy the last couple of chapters. **

**Blackspiderman: Yay! So glad you liked that chapter-it honestly is my favorite one! The next two chapters will focus on Star and Marco-because they are the last two chapters of the series! Thank you for your encouragement. Hope you like the last couple of stories. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello again! Thank you for tuning into the 25****th**** installment of Life on Earthni! Hope you have enjoyed these chapters as much as I have loved writing them. Can you believe we are already at the second to last chapter? I can't! Anyway, hope you enjoy this story. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**Chapter 25: Yes**

Taking in a deep breath, Marco held both sides of the sink as he stared into the bathroom mirror. "Okay, Diaz. You can do this." He pointed to his reflection, narrowing his eyes. "Don't sweat. Seriously…don't sweat." Marco looked himself in the eye and took a deep breath. Someone walked past him to wash his hands and gave him a strange look.

"Do you need a laxative or something?" He asked Marco as he turned on the water.

With a groan, Marco just gave the guy a blank look. "Nope. I'm good."

The man shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the bathroom door, muttering, "Humans are so weird." Ignoring the jab, Marco looked back into the mirror again. "No pressure. Just the most important night of your life at one of the fanciest restaurants on Earthni. Everything will go according to plan." Giving himself one more nod, Marco patted his pocket to see if- "OH NO! WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT?!" He frantically began patting himself down, checking every pocket in his pants and jacket when suddenly he felt the tiny little box. With a sigh of relief, Marco pulled out the little box to check to make sure it was still there and put it back in his jacket pocket.

Shaking out his hands, Marco realized he was sweaty again. "Uhhh…" Pulling out a roll of deodorant from his other jacket pocket, he popped the lid and reached under his shirt to put it on. "One wipe, two wipe, three wipe, four. Five wipe, six wipe-swipe no more." Putting back the deodorant, he gave himself one more nod in the mirror. "Let's do this."

Marco left the bathroom, seeing the man from before eyeing him at a table near the kitchen. Avoiding his gaze, Marco made his way back to the table where Star was waiting. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he saw her in a fancy dress, giggling behind a menu as a human waitress stalked away. As she past Marco, he heard her grumble, "Stupid high schoolers." As she disappeared into the kitchen, Marco looked back at his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.

"Marco! This place is too funny. So she listed all the specials and when I asked for her to say them again she did-then I told her that all sounded kind of gross and asked for chicken fingers-which, chickens don't have fingers, right? Anyway, she gave me a children's menu and asked why I came here without my parents. She totally thinks we are in high school!" Marco smiled at Star as he sat down, unconsciously patting his jacket pocket. Star looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You were in the bathroom a long time-you okay?"

Waving his hand, Marco tugged at his collar with the other. "Yeah, just talked with some guy in there…anyway, what were the specials?"

"I dunno. I wasn't really listening."

"And I wonder why she thought you were a high schooler…" Marco smiled at her despite himself. "She just thinks you're young-but we're here to celebrate! My beautiful girlfriend got into law school!"

"Yeah I did!" Star thrust her hands into the air, her dinosaur bracelets clacking together. "Celebration time-Star Butterfly, Attorney of Law. Making Earthni a better place for you and me."

"You made your own catchphrase?" Marco glanced down at his watch and gulped. "Oh no-they are running late taking our order!"

Star raised her eyebrow, scrunching her face in confusion. "What are you talking about, we just got here. We are at this fancy-schmancy place to celebrate me getting into law school!"

"Hehe, yep! Celebrate you getting into law school! AND THAT IS IT-NOTHING ELSE!"

Cocking her head to the side, Star looked at her boyfriend in confusion. "Uhh…okay, Diaz. Maybe tone it down a little. You're being kind of weird." Both looked at one another, Marco feeling a bead of sweat trail down his back. Forcing a laugh, he pointed at the lady drinking tea with her pinky out. Star joined in and the night began to flow. After ordering chicken fingers and every other item on the children's menu, the couple continued to talk throughout the night. Star and Marco pretended to be other couples at the restaurant, making up conversations about their missing jewels or frustrations with butlers and silver spoons-which Marco had to explain that one to Star.

As Marco checked his watch for the twentieth time that evening (which Star quit asking about after the fifth time, thank goodness) he looked back up at Star licking her spoon to get the last of the chocolate ice cream off of it. As she raised the bowl up to her mouth, she caught Marco's eye and smiled at him awkwardly. "On Mewni, licking plates clean was a sign of respect to the cooks."

"Star, I lived on Mewni with you. I'm pretty sure your mom would kill you for that."

Grinning sheepishly, Star put down her bowl and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey-I'm 23. I can make my own rules now."

"Here." A piece of paper was thrust down in front of Marco's face. Blinking rapidly, he looked up to see the waitress standing over him, a haggard look on her face. "It that FINALLY everything I can do for you?" She groaned at him, eyes narrowed.

Marco looked back down at the check. He rolled his eyes when he saw the price. "$650. Sounds about right." Sighing, he took out his wallet and put down the amount plus a what little extra he had for a tip. "Thanks. Sorry for…" Marco looked down at the trashed table with every food imaginable and the impromptu remains of the tic-tac-toe game he and Star had written on every napkin and children's menu. He looked back up at the waitress who gave him an annoyed look. "Anyway, thanks!" Taking Star's hand, he dashed out of the restaurant as fast as he could.

As they made their way down to the park, Marco checked his watch again. Okay…they were still on time if they cut the firework show a bit short-"Why are you acting so 'Marcoish' tonight?" Star's voice cut through his thoughts. Whirling to look at her, a blonde curl escaped from her bun as she cocked her head to look at him.

Grinning at her (and feeling sweat pour out of his armpits profusely), he tucked the hair back behind her ear. "I'm just excited! You're gonna be a lawyer! And I'm gonna be a cop…hopefully. Whenever I finish my second bachelor's degree."

"I can't believe you would willingly go back to school for cooking."

"Hey, the culinary arts have been passed down for generations-OH MY GOSH! We gotta go!" Checking his watch, Marco yelped and grabbed her hand, dragging her further into the park. Star looked around herself, confused as to why he was acting so strangely. As the Mewni moons began to set in the distance and the Earth moon rose to the east, Star smiled as they walked in the dark. With a tug of her hand, she stopped Marco in his tracks, almost pulling him down. "Look, Marco! Isn't that amazing? It's so beautiful!" Slipping off her shoes, she sighed in relief, her grin growing. "Man, if I had never destroyed magic, I would have made a spell that makes me feel as good as taking off high heels but for my whole body!"

Marco smiled at her, resisting the urge to look at his watch. Feeling a tug at his hand, Marco felt Star pull him to the grass. "Do you hear that music from that restaurant over there? Let's dance!"

"Star, we don't have time-"

"Where do we have to go in such a hurry? Come on, Safe Kid!"

Huffing in defeat, Marco began to calculate what else could be shortened as he joined Star. Holding each other by one hand, Star gave an exaggerated curtsey and Marco smiled, bowing at her with a flourish. Though it was faint, Marco heard the music and began to lead once he got the rhythm. The two couldn't help but giggle as they swayed to the music. "Why do you hide these dance moves, Diaz?"

Shrugging as he twirled Star, he fringed modesty. "I don't hide them-I just don't want Ponyhead to be jealous."

Star snorted, letting go of Marco as she laughed. "Yeah, Pony would try to spear you with her new horn. Oh, corn! My hair is driving me nuts! I'll be right back, Marco! Gotta go fix my do!" Grabbing her shoes, Star dashed toward the closest bathroom. The moment she had closed the door, Marco whipped out his phone.

"Ponyhead! Tell me you have everything in order. Uhh, Ponyhead?" The sight that greeted Marco on the video call was not the preparations he had been expecting, but flashing lights and a close up of Ponyhead's snout. The background music was so loud, he couldn't hear her response. "WHAT?" He yelled into the phone. The flying princess snorted and the screen began shifting rapidly as she floated around wherever she was…Finally she stopped at glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"What? I was just getting' my groove on at the club and you up and call me for no reason whatsoever. What do you want, Earth Turd?"

Marco shook his head in disbelief. "What? No! You promised you would be making sure everything was in order for tonight. Are Janna, Tom, and Jackie all in place? What about Star and my parents? And did you invite Eclipsa and Globgor?"

Ponyhead stared blankly at the screen as the music grew louder behind her. "Oh, you know what-I totally forgot to do all those things. But it's whatever. Even you can't mess this up-OHH!" As the song changed, Ponyhead looked behind her. Marco could make out two of her sisters flying to the dance floor. "I love this song!"

"Seriously? Ponyhead! You were supposed to get the hot air balloon ready with the fireworks timed to Love Sentence songs!"

"Chill, Marco! I just-like-forgot to do all those things because it was, like, a lot. Well, gotta go. Good luck or whatever!" Ponyhead huffed into the screen and suddenly hung up.

"Wait-no-ugh. I never should have relied on her." Marco growled as he flipped through his contacts. Pressing the button, the phone dialed. Marco impatiently tapped his foot, glancing at the bathroom in case Star came back. "JANNA! Oh man, Janna, Pony bailed on us but give me some good news-you did all the stuff she promised to do and-"

"Sorry, I'm busy."

The line went dead and Marco growled in frustration. "UGH! Why is no one reliable anymore. I swear, if everything is ruined-"

"What's ruined?"

With a jolt, Marco whipped around to see Star behind him, her hair completely down like normal. She looked absolutely beautiful in the moonlight. Gulping, Marco thrust his phone deep into his pocket. "Uh, nothing! Nothing! Just…world politics…"

"Okay…" Star gave him a funny look. Suddenly, a strange look Marco couldn't quite identify flashed across her face and before he could ask her what was up, she exploded. "UGH! Marco-I'm sorry, I know that tonight was supposed to be special but you are acting so…Marcoish! I don't know why you are having a Marco moment, but I can't hold it in any longer. I got to talk to you about something and it can't wait anymore!"

Blinking once, Marco looked at his girlfriend, assessing how serious she was being. Glancing at his watch, his heart leapt in panic. "Umm, can we talk about it as we walk, because we really need to go…" Star crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. Marco gulped, realizing how strikingly similar Star looked to her mom when she was angry. "Or we can talk about it right here."

Taking a deep breath, Star rub her arms as if to warm herself. "I'm sorry, Marco. I shouldn't have blown up on you with this but I've been thinking about this a lot lately and just couldn't let it go." As if steeling herself, Star closed her eyes for a brief second before gazing into Marco's eyes. "Why don't we just get married already?"

Marco's jaw dropped. His heart sped up rapidly. He tried to form words but Star interrupted him. "Look, I know we are still super young but we have been together since we were kids and we love each other. It just makes sense. Why not just make it official? Is it…" Star paused, nervously tugging at some hair. "Is it because you don't want to commit just yet? Or that you want to finish school or what?"

Her eyes glistened in the moonlight. Marco wordlessly shook his head, trying to decide how to respond. "Star…Of course I want to marry you! It's just…I want everything to be perfect! Look, we probably should go or we'll miss-"

"No moment will ever be perfect, Marco!" Star thrust her hands on her hips. Sighing, she shook her head. "Look, it's just been something I've been thinking a lot about lately and-I dunno-it seems like the right next step. It doesn't have to be anything super special! It's special if it's just you and me. You've been acting so weird tonight I wasn't sure if I should bring this up or not but then…" Star stopped, realizing she was spiraling. Marco realized she must have been thinking about this a long time-probably as long as he had been. "I'm sorry, Marco. I just…I'm a bit overwhelmed. I think I should go home. Maybe we could celebrate tomorrow."

As she began to turn away, Marco frantically reached inside his coat pocket and whipped out the box. He stared at it for a fraction of a second before looking back up to see Star beginning to walk away. "Star-wait!"

"Marco, look, I know you have something planned-HOLY HORSE FEATHERS!" Star gasped, pulling her hand to her mouth in shock. "Marco, what are you-"

Marco was on one knee, holding up the ring. Sweat gushed down his back like a river as he gazed up at her hopefully. A million emotions flashed across her face as she gazed wordlessly at the ring. "Star, I realize that this may not have been what I planned but you're right. There isn't the perfect moment-every moment with you is perfect."

Fanning herself, a grin grew across her face. "Oh my gosh, Marco! I am so sorry-I am so dumb! I thought you didn't care or that you weren't that interested in getting married or something but this is amazing and I have no idea what to say and now I can't stop talking-this is why you were acting more Marcoish than usual!"

With a nervous grin, Marco shakily held up the ring. The moonlight caught on the ring and reflected onto Star's face. Star put a hand over her mouth to quiet herself as she wordlessly nodded for Marco to continue.

"Star, will you-"

"OF COURSE I WILL, SAFETY KID!"

Suddenly, Marco was tackled to the ground as Star threw her arms around him in a hug. Before he could respond, her lips were on his. After a few seconds, Star released him and pulled away to look him in the eye. Placing one hand on his check, she smiled at him with tears in her eyes. Marco pulled her hand away from his check and slipped the ring onto her finger. Giving him one more kiss, Star pulled them both into a sitting position. "Okay, maybe you were right. You just had to wait for the perfect moment-I can't wait to tell EVERYBODY!" She sang the last word happily as she threw her arms around him again before quickly pulling away with a sickly smile. "Ehh, let's get some paper towels for your sweaty back…"

As if in a daydream, Marco nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah…perfect."

Star helped Marco up and held up her hand in front of them to admire the ring. "You really do have the moves, Diaz. The perfect moment. No distractions. Simple. Just you and me. This is exactly what I always wanted." She kissed him on the check as she jumped up and down in excitement. "Holy corn! I got to go tell mom and dad! And Janna! AND PONY! She's going to freak! Come on, Marco! We got to go!" She pulled at his hand and Marco nodded his head quickly, squeezing it once before letting go.

"Yeah, yeah! Of course. Just…one moment. You go ahead."

Star beamed at him before grabbing her shoes and dashing toward the car, admiring her ring as she went. Marco watched after her for a few seconds with a goofy smile before whipping out a walkie talkie from his front pants pocket. "Tom! Cancel the fire jugglers and the parade. Star wants something simple! I repeat-cancel the fire jugglers and the parade. Do you copy?"

The walkie talkie cackled to life as Tom's voice came through. "What? No jugglers? Ahh, man! I just got a new suit for this!"

**Man, even in just one sentence, the bromance is strong with those two-I love it! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. These stories started with their wedding and now ending with their engagement. And Marco would try to plan an over the top engagement because that's what Star would normally like but with how close and sweet their relationship is, it seemed like Star would like something that is intimate and just the two of them. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Can you believe there is only one chapter left after this? These have been such a blast to write. Thank you for reading my stories-I appreciate each and every one of you. Until the next (and last) time! **

**Starco4everr: Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed that chapter. You are so kind to continue to encourage me throughout this story! Thank you! **

**Lord of the Storm: Thank you so much for your encouragement! We have that in common with doing both music and sports in high school! So glad you have been enjoying this series-and don't we all wish we still owned our souls, lol! **

**SugarQueen97: Lol, true! The nefarious side of ice cream vendors-diabetes and cholesterol. And if Meteora was rejected by Rasticore AGAIN-poor thing! No worries, she ends up with someone so much better than Rasticore! **


	26. Chapter 26

**Starco4everr: Thank you for your encouragement! You have been a constant joy throughout this series-thank you so very much! I hope you enjoy this last chapter. **

**EDD17SP: That is definitely how I felt Marco would propose to Star-he is such a sweet guy but sometimes just goes a bit overboard. I hope everyone finds their own relationship-whether it is romantic or just friendship or family-like Star and Marco. Thank you for your encouragement! **

**SugarQueen97: I agree-Star can be a bit difficult at times but she is such a kind and well-meaning character. She grew up over the show and really became a compassionate advocate that is admirable. I agree-the older she gets, the more adorable she becomes. And no worries-you're about to see some Starco grandkids. Thank you for your encouragement! **

**Wow. The last story. I can't believe we made it! Thank you all for reading my stories-it has been an absolute pleasure. Well-without further ado-let's hop in one last time. I don't own Star vs the Forces of Evil. **

**Chapter 26: Zest for life **

Star looked around herself, a small smile growing on her face. Brushing some graying blonde hair behind her ear, she walked down off the porch to join Marco, who was playing Cornball with all their grandchildren and children. "Ahh, no! I'm down!" Marco called, laying on the ground as his granddaughters and great nephews piled on top of him. They all giggled, pushing him down and tickling him. Finally, a clap brought all the attention as Comet called out to the kids. "Hey, who wants to play Flags?"

"ME! ME! ME!" All the children cheered and leapt up, dashing toward him.

Smiling, Star walked over to Marco, who lay on the ground, one arm over his eyes. "I'm too old for this." He groaned, flopping his arm back onto the ground. "Is it just me, or did those kids get bigger? They make the Buff-grandbabies look like tadpoles."

"Maybe you're just shrinking in your old age, Diaz."

"I'm not that old! I'm just 67!"

Laughing, Star helped her husband stand up and kissed his cheek. "Come on, Wild Man. The in-laws are here." Marco grinned back at her, small wrinkles appearing around his eyes. Star still couldn't believe how quickly time had passed. Though neither really looked their age, both were in their late 60's and age was slowly catching up with them. Still-Marco looked dang good for 67. Though according to Marco, she was the one who still looked 'foxy'. Tugging his hand, Star guided him down the hill.

All of Echo Creek sprawled in front of them as their family played on the lawn of the Monster Temple. Comet and his wife, Lashina, were playing with the kids-though Lashina stayed back with a smile as she rubbed her pregnant belly. Comet was directing the kids into two teams to play flags, a large grin on his face. He was looking more like King River every day. Cassie and her husband dashed after their two girls, making sure they were behaving. Mariposa, her wife Katie, their adopted boys, Meteora, her high-school sweetheart Carter, and their many children and two grandkids lined up as well. Star smiled, feeling her heart grow warm seeing her family.

"MARCO! Dude-It's been too long, man!" Tom dashed up the stairs, interrupting Star's thoughts. He was followed by a smirking Janna, still wearing a beanie over her silver hair.

"Too long? Tom-I saw you yesterday."

"I just said it was too long!" Tom grinned at him, giving Star a quick hug as he looked around at the busy scene around them.

Janna looped her arm through her husband's. "Time is relative, Marco. Aren't you supposed to be smart or something." She noticed Star giving Tom a strange look, cocking her head to the side. "No, Star. He still doesn't have any gray hair yet."

Shaking her head, Star looked at Marco, gesturing to the Prince of the Underworld. "It's just-you look so good! You don't look all old and stuff like us!"

Frowning, Marco glanced at his wife through narrowed eyes. "You don't have to get so excited about it."

"Ahh, Marco. Don't get too jealous, bro! It just comes with being half demon-I age at half the rate of humans. I'm about to enter my mid-thirties." Tom cockily tugged at his tie, winking at the couple. Marco rolled his eyes as Star giggled.

"So Janna, how do you feel about being married to a man-child?"

"HEY!"

Janna shrugged, ignoring her husband's outburst. "We've talked about it. Once I kick the bucket, he can marry whoever he wants-but with one condition." She whirled around, poking her finger into his chest. Tom's three eyes went wide as Janna got into his face. "She cannot be as cool as me." She paused, glancing to the side before poking her finger back into his chest. "And she has to be called Janna 2." Flicking Tom in the nose, Janna turned and pulled Star with her. "Come on, Star. Let's go play Flags with our grandkids."

As the two walked away, Marco turned to look at Tom. Awkwardly, Tom coughed into his hand and cracked his neck. "Yeah…don't ask." The best friends followed their wives back to the game, which had dissolved into a wrestling match between Meteora's kids and Comet. Seeing Cassie and her husband talking, Marco glanced at Tom.

"I still can't get over the fact that Cassie and Ubaldo are married and have kids. And we're in-laws!" Marco exclaimed while throwing his arm around Tom, before grunting as Star nudged him in the ribs. She handed him a white-grape juice box with narrowed eyes. "What? I was just saying-"

"I think it's great! We are all family now! I love having Ubaldo Flamethrower Lucitor as a son-in-law." She high-fived Janna, how had picked 'Flamethrower' as a middle name. Tom laughed and fist-bumped Star as well.

Marco sighed and muttered under his breath, earning another nudge in the ribs. "Yeah, but still not sure about having Janna in the family…Oh, hi Estrella! Hi Ellie!" Cassie and Ubaldo's kids dashed up to their grandparents, throwing themselves into Janna and Tom's arms.

"Grandpa! Grandma J! You're here!" Estrella and Ellie cheered. Estrella whirled, tugging on Marco's hand. "Abuelo! Abuelo! Can we play Flags? I want to crush my opponents and reap the fruits of my labor!"

Nodding her head, Janna smirked. "That's my girl." She fist bumped her granddaughter. "Okay, mini-me. Go tell your dad he's about to be spanked by his momma." Cheering, Estrella threw her hands into the air. Star smiled, noticing her small horns beginning to grow on her forehead as she glanced up at Star before racing over to Ubaldo. Ellie cheered, cartwheeling down the hill after her sister-the spitting image of Star with red hair.

"I'm not sure the world can handle two more of you." Marco muttered as Tom chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Fighting a smile, Star looked after their grandchildren-Estrella was just like Janna and Ellie (named after Eclipsa, who really bonded with Cassie as a kid) was the spitting image and personality of Star-just with horns. Though Star couldn't quite put her feelings into words, her heart ached both with happiness and longing. She didn't quite know why, it wasn't like anything was missing. Well-besides her mom and dad, the Diaz', Eclipsa, and Globgor. They were all gone. But that wasn't it…Suddenly, Tom's hand on her shoulder brought her back to the present. Blinking, she looked over to see Marco and Janna arguing-as per usual.

"I'm just saying, maybe you should think about what you say to Estrella or she's going to start getting into trouble at school!" Marco ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.

Waving her hand nonchalantly, Janna scoffed with a single laugh. "She just has a zest for life-just like her grandmas. Right, Star? Uh, Star? You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Totally. Totally. Totally." Star shrugged her shoulders, reverting back to her teenage self for a moment. "Just, lost in the moment!"

"See? Zest for life." Janna nudged Marco in the ribs, causing him to growl in annoyance. Smiling, Star realized some things never change. "So-" Janna turned, gesturing toward Lashina struggling to pick up something she dropped on the floor. She snapped at Comet that she could get it as she sighed in relief once she got her plate off the ground. Rubbing her pregnant belly, she saw the older adults looking at her and she flashed a smile before grabbing more food. "Looks like Lashina is about to pop. Comet sure he's ready to be a dad?"

"UNCLE TOM!"

"TOM-TOM!"

Star saw her oldest son dash and fling his arms around his namesake, interrupting Janna's question. Tommy, dubbed Uncle Tom-Tom by his nieces pulled away from Tom, grinning ear to ear. Tommy looked at his uncle before glanced at his parents and Janna. "Oh, hey. Sorry I'm late. Just bringing in the Calvary." Suddenly, the lawn was flooded with friends and loved ones, an explosion of noise warming Star's heart.

Shaking her fist in the air, Janna yelled at the kids running around. "GET OFF OUR LAWN! Man, I always wanted to say that. Being old is cool." Star giggled as she raced over to hug her friends. The party had finally started. Jackie waved, bringing over a banner that said, "Happy Butterfly-Diaz-Lucitor-Ordonia-Lynn Thomas-Man Carver-Ponyhead Family/Friend Reunion!" Star greeted and gave everyone a hug, the strange feeling still churning in her belly. As she looked around at her loved ones, the longing slowly turned to guilt. Evidently her face was obvious as Marco laced his fingers in hers. Glancing over, he wordlessly jerked his head toward the porch. Smiling, Star followed, sitting on the steps with her husband.

The two sat in silence, taking in the lively activity around them. Star felt odd-usually she would be in the mist of everything. Talking, laughing, playing jokes, dancing. But it was as if she felt she had to take a moment. "They would have loved this." She whispered. Marco nodded, not even having to ask who she meant. He squeezed his hand in comfort. Both their parents. Eclipsa. Globgor. The past few years had been pretty tough on their family.

Jackie and Chloe were making plates for their teenage adopted children, talking with Tom, Alfonso, and Ferguson. Carter, Meteora's husband, was telling an animated story to his two grandkids, gesturing with his hands and roaring like a lion-bear. The children shrieked and his five adult children dashed over and began to chide their father. Meteora laughed, picking up her grandson and tossing him in the air. Janna was shuffling around everyone else into two teams to play Flags, flicking those who didn't move fast enough with rocks from her slingshot. Ponyhead put on some music and began to dance, her plastic surgery keeping her face in a permanently creepy smile as she whirled around in the air. She shouted that everyone could start partying now since she had arrived. Everyone groaning in return.

Noticing Star and Marco, she floated over at them and snorted in their face. "What are you doing? It's time to get this party started!"

Star straightened out her legs and looked up at her friend. "It already has started."

Pony looked around herself, her plastic grin trying to droop to a frown. "Umm…I don't see a party. All I see is the equivalent of bingo night at a monster senior center-it's time to get this party started!"

"Right on." Janna yelled over to her, air-fiving the princess.

Ponyhead shrugged over toward the game forming, nodding to the couple. "You're being boring! It's like that time you closed down the Bounce Lounge, Marco."

"Umm, I didn't shut it down, that weird, old lady just got tired and stop."

"Well-stop being weird, old, tired, and lame."

"Pony-we never said lame…"

"Oh no-my fourth ex-husband is calling me. I gotta take this!" Pony whipped out her phone and opened it with her tongue. "What do you want? I'm busy…" Star giggled as she floated away, laughing at Marco shaking his head. Some things never change.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Looking to the left, Star noticed Tom looked out at their family too, a soft smile on his face. Marco let go of Star's hand and looped his arm over Tom's shoulder, Star doing the same. The three friends just sat and watched, something they were not used to doing. Finally, Tom broke the silence.

"I can't believe it has been over 50 years since magic has been gone."

Star felt her heart give a tug as she quietly nodded. "Me neither." She felt Marco's hand find her arm around Tom's shoulder and give it a squeeze.

Nodding his head, Tom began to lean back. "It's been a good run."

Marco cocked his head, eyeing his best friend with a raised brow. "You're talking like we're about to kneel over!"

"Well-you guys don't live that long!"

Star noticed Marco nudge Tom in the ribs. She laughed, the two still had that weird, silent bro-language they created-which only grew stronger once they became in-laws. "Why don't you two get a room?" She asked them. Tom laughed, shoving her playfully as Marco grinned at them, a blush on his face. The former princess nodded toward the group. "You probably should go protect your grandkids-Janna and Estrella seem like they are about to lead a revolution." The trio turned to see Janna pounded his fist into her other hand, marching back and forth while addressing all the kids.

"You should be strong-don't conform to the patriarchy! The government is out to get us-we must be ready to strike! This is no game-this is combat practice. Death to the-"

"WHOA!" Tom flung himself up, panic in his eyes. "Honey! You can't tell the kids that!"

"I'm an old woman now so I can say and do what I want!" Janna thrust her finger toward the children, who all fell onto the ground in nervous giggles, unsure if she was serious or not.

Tom looked back at his two closest friends with a blank look. "When did she not?" With a sigh, he turned to go prevent his wife from forming a child army. Star and Marco caught each other's eye and fell into a fit of giggles. Though they were older, they still acted like teenagers every once in a while.

Star looked up to see the sun setting and the Mewni moons hanging high in the sky. The guilty longing churned in her stomach again and her smile fell from her face. Marco noticed her frown and looked at his wife. "Hey, you okay? You haven't even eaten one cob of corn or the sugarittas I made."

Shaking her head, Star continued to look out at their family. "Did we do the right thing?"

"Uhh…you gotta be a bit more specific than that, Star."

Glaring at him, she sighed using her whole body, seeming like a teenager in an old woman's body. "You know-merging Earth and Mewni. Cleaving it together or whatever nonsense Glossaryk always spouted." Marco's face strickened as he realized what Star was talking about. When he opened his mouth to talk, Star put her finger to his lips and gave him a look that rivaled her mother in severity. "I mean, we were just dumb teenagers not even able to confess our feelings to one another-who were we to decide the fate of two whole worlds?!"

Marco rubbed the back of his head, his frown causing some wrinkles to frame his aging face. "Yeah, timing was never our thing back then, was it?"

"MARCO! I'm being serious!"

"Sorry! Sorry. But Star, we didn't decide that-you just destroyed magic."

"But…did we do the right thing? Destroying magic?"

Star sat quietly, looking back out at the scene in front of them. Tommy was now tackled to the ground by all the kids and grandkids as he pretended to die from death by tickling. Carter and Mariposa were pushing back chairs and directing Katie and Meteora on where to put a dance floor. Suddenly, Janna-followed closely by Estrella who copied her every move-marched forward and demanded everyone to line up. Star fought down a smile as everyone began to line up, Janna counting them off in groups of two. As each group went to their teams, everyone began to tease one another, challenging the others to defeat them. Tom fired up his hands, causing Cassie and Ubaldo to jump away from him. Ubaldo chided him. 'DAD! How can you still be embarrassing!' Suddenly, everyone realized that Janna had all the adults on one team and the children on the other-lead by herself.

Just as Star was about to speak, suddenly the sound of ribbeting filled her ears. Smiling despite herself, she turned to see Katrina Buff Frog hobbling over to the game, followed by all her siblings and nieces and nephews. She banished her cane at them, silencing all her family members mid-ribbet. "Sorry we're late!" Smirking, she nodded at the group. "But it looks like there is a new winning team for Flags."

"BRING IT ON! We can take 'em!" Ellie called, thrusting her fist in the air. The other children cheered, jumping up and down as Janna merely nodded in approval, arms crossed.

"Yeah-she's definitely your granddaughter." Marco laughed, Star grinning back at him. Both looked up to see Mariposa and Tom looking at them with raised eyebrows. Marco raised a finger to signal for one minute before turning back to Star. "Star…look at this. Look at our family and friends. Look at the life we created together." He gestured toward the air, looking around them. "We made this. We made Earthni."

Taking her chin in his hand, Marco pulled her gaze to look him in the eye. "Star. We didn't know that magic would cause all this. We didn't know Earth and Mewni would merge. We didn't know all the hardships and troubles that would come from that." His eyes began to water but he quickly blinked them away, placing a hand on Star's cheek. "But things worked out. Magic may have been gone but things just changed. We grew and we worked to make a difference. And we are together."

Star felt her own heart begin to beat, the feeling of guilt slowly dissolving. Marco rubbed a finger over her cheek where her hearts used to be so long ago. She leaned into his hand, feeling like a young woman again. "Magic may have been destroyed." Marco continued, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "We just made a different kind of magic."

The feeling that had been eating away at Star all day-really, her whole life-suddenly disappeared. Star felt lighter, lighter than she had ever felt in her life. She leaned in, kissing her husband softly. Pulling away, she smiled at him. "I love you, Safe Kid."

A goofy grin grew on Marco's face. "I love you too, Princess Star Butterfly."

"ARE YOU TWO DONE BEING LOVELY DOVEY YET?" Jerking apart, Star and Marco say Janna glaring at them, hands on her hips. "I've had to completely reevaluate our strategy to defeat those overgrown tadpoles. I need you old farts!"

"Janna-don't call them old farts!" Tom admonished her, hitting her arm with a frown on his face. He glanced at his friends, silently asking them if everything was okay. Star just smiled at him and whatever was on her face caused Tom's tail to flick back and forth as he smiled back.

"I'm old and I can call them whatever I want!"

The whole group dissolved into chaos, everyone moving to stand at attention as Lashina placed the flag at the top of the Monster Temple, waving down at them with a smile. Star looked around at everyone she loved all in one place. Looking back at Marco, she took his hand and pulled him up. "Ready to ravage and destroy?"

"Wow. You have such a way with words." Marco joked sarcastically, pulling her toward the game. Mariposa waved them over to her team, her old Cornball face on as they began to strategize.

Star squeezed his hand as they grinned at one another before joining their family. A peace grew in her heart, as she knew they had lived a wonderful, magical life.

**And that is all she wrote. Literally, my heart is so happy yet sad it is all over! I cannot thank you enough for everyone that has read my story and followed me throughout this year-long journey. Thank you everyone for commenting, following, favoriting, and most of all reading! You have all been so encouraging and wonderful-I couldn't have done it without you. I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I have. I hope your life is as wonderful and magical and Star and Marco's! **


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